Can Things Ever Be Normal?
by DesireeBoils
Summary: Erik just trying to live a normal teen life at boarding school, but has trouble when his girlfriend Christine and his best friend Phoebe are both after him. Who will he choose? Modern day. EC. Beta Reader approved.
1. New Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own Erik, or Christine, but the other characters are mine, so hands off lol**!

**Chapter one: new friends**

Erik sat on the train looking out the window dejected. The weather seemed to mask his true feelings. Mask. Why did he have to constantly remind himself of the fact of his deformed face?

He did have his foster parents, but they even seemed to hate his face and where he came from. He had been bounced from orphanage to foster home to foster home. His new foster parents had sent him to a boarding school, but not just a boy's boarding school, it was a co-ed boarding school.

As the train rolled on little drops of rain hit the window he was staring out. They had just left the platform about ten minutes ago and he was feeling more rejected then ever. Erik sat alone in the small compartment. He looked around and saw that the train needed someone to redecorate it. The walls were painted in a shallow grey color and the seats a dull white color. Who knows how many people sat on these dingy cushions Erik thought to himself, at least one more.

He looked back out of the window and heard the door slide open. He could see someone's reflection in the window. Erik could tell it was a girl, he smelled her perfume. It did smell good, Erik thought to himself.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" A girl's voice rang out softly.

Erik turned towards her. She was a very pretty girl with shoulder length brown hair, that looked almost red it hung as straight as the strings on his violin. Her skin was very light and had striking green eyes.

Erik nodded his head towards the empty seat and she almost floated over to the seat. He could tell she had grace, maybe not as much as him, but very graceful.

She sat in the seat across from him. "Hi, I'm Phoebe, Phoebe Hudson." Phoebe said in a cheery voice. How could someone be so cheery on a day like this? Erik though.

"Erik" he said simply.

He didn't want to be rude to this girl, but he wasn't in the mood to talk. She smiled at him. He noticed she didn't look at his white mask once. How particular, that was not something he was used to. She was a strange girl. Maybe he could find friendship in a girl like that.

"So what do you know about the school?" Phoebe asked.

Erik was shocked that she would ask such a knowledgeable question. She didn't ask silly questions like how comfy will the beds be, or will the food be any good, she asked what the school's history was.

"Oh, I'm not sure, but I know its one of the most prestigious schools."

"I plan on studying art." Phoebe said.

"Really I do too. I find art relaxing, and intriguing at the same time. There is so many different styles though, it can be rather complex. I'm also studying music, and architecture." Erik said proudly.

"Oh, I love music, what do you play?" Phoebe asked.

Erik puffed out his chest proudly. "Piano and violin"

"I play the piano too!" Phoebe gushed. "We have a lot in common."

Erik smiled at Phoebe. "Yes, we do seem to have a lot in common."

"I can tell were going to be good friends" She said as she got up and sat next to Erik. He didn't mind her presence besides him. It felt nice to be liked by another person. He had gone so long without having compassion and friendship.

They talked for hours until the train slowed.

"Well I had better go get my uniform on." Phoebe said as she stood up. Erik looked out the window again and noticed the stars shining. She left and he stood up and pulled out his uniform.

It was a dark jacket with a pale blue button up shirt. The slacks were black also. He had on white tennis shoes. His favorite pair. The white mask stood out against his face. The girls uniform was a black jacket with a soft pink button up shirt. The black skirt went below the knees.

Phoebe walked back into the compartment just as the train stopped. "Are you ready to go to school?" Phoebe asked. She seemed to have a glow radiating from her that Erik could tell was from excitement. They started to leave the train and Erik looked back one last time before stepping off the train. No more normal life, it is now time for a year of boarding school with his new friend.

**I know, no Christine, but she does appear in the next chapter. Please review, its what keeps me going!**


	2. Green Eyed Monster

Chapter two: green eyed monster.

The welcoming feast was wonderful. Erik sat with his new friend Phoebe and they indulged themselves with some of their favorite foods. After everything was finished the headmaster stood up.

"Boys and girls, I hope that was excellent for you. It is now time for bed. New students to find your dorms you need to look at the paper against the wall over there." He said as he pointed to the doors leading in and out.

"Girls studying art, music, or theater excreta is on the left, boys studying art, music, or theater excreta is on the left."

That's all that Erik heard of the headmasters speech. He had just looked over and saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen before. The whole room seemed to vanish but this one creature. She had beautiful brown eyes, dark curly hair that she had pulled half up behind her ears. Her skin was like porcelain shining out against the light. He momentarily lost his breath.

Then he came to. Someone was pulling at his arm. It was Phoebe, and she was dragging him to look at the maps to their dorms. He shook his head and tried to come back to reality.

He stood politely as Phoebe checked her map then started to walk over towards the boy's maps. "Look Erik were in the same building, just on different sides of the building. "We have almost all the same classes." Phoebe said as she jumped up and down. "Come on, lets go home."

Erik walked quietly besides Phoebe. He just let her gush on and on about tomorrow. He finally looked up and saw that they were in their building. He saw tons of kids filing in talking and greeting each other.

Erik led Phoebe to her room and headed towards his. He found a room that had his name on it. Below his name held another plaque that said Tyler McWilen. He sighed and opened the door. It was a simple room with two twin sized beds, two small dressers, two doors that Erik guessed was to a closet and a bathroom, and two desks. His suitcase was on the left bed and he walked towards the bed. His comforter was black with the crest in silver.

He started to unpack his clothing when the door opened. A boy with blond shaggy hair walked in. He turned and looked at him, it must be Tyler. He went back to unpacking his clothes.

"Hey man" he said rather loudly. "I'm Tyler." Erik turned and looked at him. He was standing next to his bed. Tyler's eyes were wide. He was staring at his mask.

"I would prefer if you didn't stare at me like that." Erik said rudely.

"Oh sorry man, but why are wearing a mask?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Erik said shortly.

He turned back to unpacking his things and ignored Tyler. He heard Tyler put a CD in the CD player in the middle of the room. Some loud rock music, that wasn't really music poured out of the speakers. Erik just rolled his eyes.

He pulled out a book and sat on his bed and tried to block out the noise that filled his room. After an hour of this a voice came out of the speaker in the corner of the room.

"Lights out in ten minutes." The voice rang out. Tyler rolled off his bed and turned the stereo off.

After ten minutes the lights turned off automatically. Erik sighed as he dog eared the page he was on and rolled over and fell asleep. He dreamed of the nameless girl he saw at the dining hall. She seemed to dance around him always out of reach. The harder he tried to reach for her, the farther away she seemed.

He woke up at six on the dot. He saw that Tyler was still asleep. He got up silently and headed towards the bathroom. He finally took off his mask. It looked hard and plastic, but if was rather soft and formed to fit his face. He always slept with his mask on. The only time he ever showed his face was when he was in the shower. Erik made sure the door was locked and turned on the shower as hot as it would go.

He didn't take his mask off until the small bathroom was filled with steam. He took it off and gently laid it on the counter. He was in and out of the shower in less than five minutes. Before the bathroom could be aired out he put his mask back on. He slicked back his hair and finished in the bathroom.

He walked back into his room and the lights were on. Tyler had already left. He walked out into the hallways and into the common room with tables, couches, and t.v.'s were. He sat in the corner and waited for Phoebe. Finally she came out of her room and spotted Erik.

"Lets get some breakfast, I'm starving."

They walked to the dining area together and sat down at one of the many round tables. They went to the breakfast bar together and got some food and sat back down. Slowly the tables started filling up. An annoying bell rang signaling class. Erik and Phoebe walked to their first class, they had it together. It was music class. They found the room and Phoebe went to the piano and Erik pulled out his violin and sat next to another violinist.

Class went rather well and Erik was awarded first chair, as he knew he would. The bell was about to ring in five minutes and the teacher let them disassemble their instruments.

"Class tomorrow we will be introduced to the choir because in December during the annual Christmas party the choir and 'band' will perform together. In fact I think they are here now." He said as students started pilling into the room.

The choir teacher started pointing out who would be doing solos. Erik looked up and saw her.

"This is Christine. She will be singing the first solo, then the duet with first violinist."

Christine. Beautiful name. Erik thought. He couldn't believe he would be doing a duet with her. They would be working side by side. He had a rather giddy smile on his face as the bell sounded. Phoebe walked up to him.

"What are you so happy about Erik?"

His smile slid off his face. "Nothing." He said as he looked at Christine who walk walking out the door. Phoebe followed his line of vision and her face hardened.

"Oh, is that the girl your doing your duet with?" Phoebe asked harshly.

"Yes, I think her name is Christine." Erik said shocked at her sudden jealously.

"Shall we go to our next class? I'll walk you to yours before I head to mine." Erik said as he started to walk her to drama. His next class was architecture.

He sat in class not really paying attention. Why was Phoebe jealous? Did she like him more then he thought? Did she think they were more than friends? Erik had never had a girl like him before. Or did she like him, was he just being conceded?

Life wasn't hard enough for him was it? Erik thought bitterly. First a deformed face, now girl trouble at the age of thirteen. Wonderful.


	3. First Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera people, but the other characters are mine. Thanks neo friends for helping me with the characters.**

**Chapter three: first love**

Erik seemed to have smoothed things out with Phoebe. He continued to eat lunch with her again and she had seemed to have forgotten about their argument. Erik didn't say anything about Christine, and he saw Christine from time to time in the halls. She always smiled at him when she passed.

It had been two months since they started school and Erik and Phoebe had gotten very close. He still cared for her as friend, and it seemed that Phoebe felt the same way. She didn't get mad at him for silly things like looking at another girl, even though he didn't look at another girl. How could he get so attached to someone he barely knew? He would do anything to keep her safe and happy.

Erik and Phoebe had just finished eating breakfast and were heading towards music class. Erik laughed as they walked through the door because Phoebe did a great impression of Tyler, his room mate.

"He's such an air-head!" Phoebe laughed. He pulled out his violin and started to warm up.

"Students, get ready, the choir is coming to join us today." Mr. Flanders said to the class.

People started to talk and get excited about the choir joining them.

The choir walked in and they seemed to stand in the front of the class. The choir did their warm-ups and they did their scales.

They started to do their song with the choir and the time came for the duet with the violin. Erik's music stood out beautifully. It seemed to melt with Christine's voice. She had a lovely singing voice, but it needed some work. Maybe they could work together and make it perfect.

After thirty minutes the bell sounded for them to leave. Erik stood up and went to the piano to walk Phoebe to her next class. She had been talking to another pianist, and he stood and waited. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned expecting it to be one of the other members of the 'band' who was needing help on the music. They seemed to not mind his mask now, they didn't know what was under it, but they respected him because he was the best. They always needed some help too.

"Hi, I'm Christine, I think were doing the duet together, you play very well." Christine said holding out her hand. Erik numbly shook her hand and as he grasped her hand electricity shot through his arm. He looked into her big brown eyes and smiled. She looked back into his amber eyes and grinned shyly.

"I'm Erik" he said softly. She was even more beautiful in person. "Oh, thank you, you have a lovely voice. Have you ever taken lessons before?"

"No, I have always wanted to, but I couldn't aff..I mean I just never did." Christine said blushing.

Erik thought it was no big deal that she couldn't afford to come to a place like this. He was lucky enough that his foster parents had some money and could send him to a place like this. Of course they were just getting rid of him and his face.

"Maybe we could practice sometime together to perfect the duet." Erik offered.

"Yeah, I would really like that." Christine said laughing.

Erik heard a huff behind him and he turned to see Phoebe waiting impatiently. "Oh, I'm sorry Phoebe, this is Christine, were doing the duet together." Erik said sheepishly. Phoebe held her hand out and shook Christine's briefly and dropped it. "Yes, I'm his best friend Phoebe Hudson. Come on Erik, were going to be late to class, are you going to walk me?"

Before he could answer she turned on her heel and walked towards the door. "Oh, well it was nice to meet you, maybe you could come by my dorm tonight and we could practice." Erik said as he made his way towards Phoebe's receding back.

"Its about time Erik" Phoebe said taping her foot.

"Sorry Phoebe, Christine was just asking if we could practice on our duet together." Erik said. "I didn't want to be rude Phoebe, she's a nice girl." At the moment he said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. Phoebe's eyes flashed anger.

"Oh, well fine then. I'll see you later Erik." Phoebe said and she stalked off. Girls. Erik walked solemnly to his next class. Would he ever understand girls?

Erik hurried to Phoebe's class to talk to her and he waited until the whole class was empty and she never came out. They both had art for their next class. Where was she? He ran to catch up with Alexis Waterkelp, her roommate. "Hey Alexis wait up!" Erik shouted and she stopped.

"Oh, hi Erik." Alexis said.

"Hey, do you know where Phoebe is? I was going to walk her to our art class and she never came out of drama."

"She never came to drama." Alexis said shrugging and she walked off to her next class.

Erik was surprised that Phoebe would skip class. She loved this school, why would she risk getting thrown out? He headed off towards class. Maybe she would be there. But she never showed up. He went to lunch. Phoebe never missed a meal, she liked to eat, but she wasn't there. He got his plate and sat down at their usual table.

Christine had walked into the dining area and saw Erik sitting there alone. She sat next to him with her tray of food. "Hi Erik, mind if I sit here?" Christine said sitting down without waiting for an answer.

"Yes, of course." Erik said all thoughts of Phoebe gone from his head. They started talking about how they both liked the school and their classes. The bell had rung and Erik stood up to dump his tray. "So Erik since there is no afternoon classes, do you want to practice?" Christine said following him to the trash can. That's right, no afternoon classes. Some teachers meeting.

"We can use the choir room if you want, my teacher said I could practice there." Christine said.

"Okay, I just need to get my violin" Erik said. They continued to talk all the way to the choir room.

They both started to warm up and had been practicing for hours. "Okay, you have done lovely." Erik said. "We don't want you to strain your vocal cords though. Are you ready for dinner? I think we might be a little early, but its close enough." Erik put his violin away. When he looked up Christine was wringing her hands.

"What is it?" Erik asked concerned.

"Oh, well I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me." Christine said blushing.

Erik was shocked that she would just come out with it.

"Wow, um yeah I would like that." Erik said grinning from ear to ear. He stood up holding his violin case in one hand and grabbed her hand with his free hand. They walked to the dinning area and each grabbed a tray of food.

After they ate Erik walked her to their building. They were actually in the same building. He had just always missed her in the halls. They sat around the CD player and talked about their favorite music. They had the same tastes in music. This was very exciting. He reached over and held her hand again. It shot electric up his arm again. They had moved to sit next to each other still holding hands. She rested her head on his shoulder and they just talked.

Erik happened to look up and see Phoebe. The look on her face was pure loathing. It put a stab in Erik's heart to see the look on her face.

"Oh Erik" Phoebe said with a tear rolling down her face. She turned and ran off.

"Wait Phoebe, don't leave." Erik said standing up. He was about to race after her when he turned and looked at Christine was looking sadly at him. Who should he go after? Phoebe or Christine?

**I hope you enjoy! Please review and make sure you check out my profile because I will post replys to them there! Happy Holidays!**


	4. Promises

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera characters, but the others are mine thanks to my neo friends!**

Chapter four: Promises

Erik looked from Phoebe to Christine. Green eyes to brown. How could he make the decision between best friend and girlfriend?

He lay on his bed looking up at the ceiling. Tyler had been painting on the isle he set up in the corner. He may not like the music he listened to, but he did have some talent with a paint brush.

Why did he have to panic? The lights went out and Erik continued to look at the ceiling though he couldn't see it. Soon his eyes adjusted and he could see the tiles. Slowly his eyes slid close.

They he was surrounded with people who were laughing and joking with him. Clapping him on the back. He had Christine hanging from his arm and Phoebe laughing and joking with him. Some guy Erik didn't know came up and hugged Phoebe and her face lit up. Things were normal. Phoebe was just a friend and happy with another guy, Christine had Erik and they were happy with each other.

Erik turned and looked at Christine. Her brown eyes were doe-like, her full lips soft and pink. He slowly touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. He swept them from her lips to her high cheekbones. He started to lean in to plant his lips on her soft ones when he was hit with a pillow.

It was morning time and Tyler threw his pillow at him to make him wake up.

"Man, I have never seen you sleep past lights on" Tyler said laughing.

Erik rolled over and growled. He threw Tyler's pillow back at him hard and hit him in the face. He had been so close to being accepted and loved. His first kiss seconds away and now he was kissing a pillow. Life wasn't fair.

"Erik, a girl came by looking for you." Tyler said pulling on his jeans. It was Saturday and they were allowed to wear their normal clothes.

"Who was it?" Erik said scowling at Tyler.

"Some curly haired girl." Tyler said and walked out of their room.

Christine had come looking for him but he needed to deal with Phoebe first. He pulled on his shirt and jeans in a flash and was ripping down the halls as fast as lightening. He made it to her room in a second. She was just emerging her room laughing with Alexis.

"We need to talk," Erik said to Phoebe.

"I have nothing to say to you Erik" Phoebe said harshly.

Erik reached out and grabbed her arm "Yes you do, lets talk."

Erik lead her to some couch and sat her down.

"What's the deal Phoebe, why did you run off last night? I thought we were just friends." Erik said as he sat next to her.

Phoebe just looked at Erik her arms crossed.

"Well"

The next thing that happened took Erik by surprise. Phoebe had launched herself into Erik planting her lips over his. Her arms were wrapped around Erik's back. He froze in place. By impulse his arms reached around her and he held her close. Phoebe leaned back and looked into his amber eyes and smiled.

"I don't want to just be your friend Erik." Phoebe said quietly. "I thought you knew"

Erik was about to open his mouth and reply when he heard a strangled cry. He looked over to see Christine standing there with a hurt look on her face. Erik realized that he still had his arms around Phoebe and she still held onto him.

"Wait Christine, it's not what you think." Erik said dropping his arms. He nudged his shoulders to make Phoebe let go of him. He stood up but Christine turned on her heel and tore down the hallways.

"I guess she can't take a little bit of competition" Phoebe said with a smirk on her face.

Erik turned to her. "Its not funny Phoebe I really like her"

"Yeah well she can't take it can she."

"Well you can't have me like that. I'm your friend, she's my girlfriend."

"Fine, well see about that." Phoebe yelled.

Erik just shook his head and walked away. He felt numb. How could women be so catty to each other? I thought they were supposed to stick together? He kept walking until he noticed he had left the building. He was outside in the woods behind the school. How long did he walk through these woods, he wasn't sure.

He decided to go find Christine and attempt to explain. He found his way back to the school. He went to her room and knocked. Her roommate Tabitha Angel answered.

"Sorry Erik, she's not here, she said something about practicing." Tabitha said and she shut her door.

Erik started to make his way to the choir room and quietly entered. She was in the front of the class sitting on the piano bench. She was pecking at the keys, not really playing. Her head down.

"Christine" Erik said quietly.

She looked up and he saw that her face was red, like she had been crying.

"Go away Erik" Christine said softly hanging her head down once more.

She didn't yell at him or even give him an ugly look, but he felt like she just stabbed him in the heart.

"Look, you need to know, I was just trying to talk to Phoebe, and she threw herself on me and started to kiss me. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do." Erik said lamely.

"They why were your arms around her?"

Erik wasn't sure why. It just sort of happened.

"Look it was a mistake Christine, I don't like Phoebe like that, I like you." Erik said as he sat next to her on the piano.

He started to play Moonlight Sonata on the piano. Christine was humming along to the melody.

"Please forgive me Christine." Erik said as he dropped his hands from the keys. "I promise it will never happen again."

"Well, you really hurt me Erik, I like you a lot."

It was Erik's head that hung this time. Then he felt a soft hand on his cheek that wasn't covered by mask. She turned his head to look at her. She barely put her lips to his. He wasn't even sure if she actually touched her lips to his.

After they practice for a little bit he walked her to her room. They were hand in hand again. They passed the area with the couches and he saw a couple wrapped up in themselves. It was such a passionate embrace, Erik was almost embarrassed to look at them. He was just about to keep walking when he noticed it was Tyler. Erik just rolled his eyes. Then he pulled back to get some air and saw that he was locking lips with Phoebe.

Erik felt something he had never felt before. It was like a monster was roaring in his stomach.

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review, its what keeps me going! Happy Holidays!**

**Desiree'**


	5. Unwanted Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera characters, but the others are mine thanks to my neo friends!**

Chapter five: Unwanted Friends

Maybe Phoebe wasn't just a friend after all. Or maybe he was just jealous because she was his best friend.

Christine tugged Erik's arm to get him to move again. He was openly staring at them with his jaw dropped. Erik shook his head and started walking with Christine again.

Christine burst out laughing. "Did you see them, Erik." Christine asked, calming down.

"Yes"

"Oh Erik don't be so moody" Christine said with a smile. She put her hand on his chest and pushed gently. Erik didn't even sway. He had a great sense of gravity.

He walked her to her door. "Good night Christine." Erik said as she turned to face him

"Night Erik" Christine said looking into his amber eyes. She stood on her tip toes and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Fire shot into his body, making him feel like he was melting. She pulled back and blushed. The next thing he saw was brown curly hair flying as she rushed into her room.

Erik walked back to his dorm room with thoughts of Christine filtering in and out. It wasn't until Tyler walked into the room right before lights out that Erik remembered what he saw earlier.

"So McWillen, since when have you and Phoebe been an item?" Erik asked with malice.

"Oh, she just came by here and I thought she was looking for you and she just asked me out. She really is amazing. I can see why you are friends, you don't mind that were going out do you?"

"As a matter of fact I do, just stay away from her McWillen." Erik said balling his fists.

Tyler had fear in his eyes. "Look man, she's her own free woman; you can't just boss her around." Tyler said, but his voice shook giving him away.

Just then the lights went out and Erik sat on the bed seething. He laid down and fell asleep.

His dreams were awful. Phoebe and Christine had both deserted him and he was alone once again. No best friend, no girlfriend. Alone in the world, like he has been for as long as he could remember.

He woke up sweating. He knew that he still had Christine, and Phoebe, thought Phoebe might not be to happy with him at the moment, they were still friends.

He locked himself into the bathroom and let the hot water crash down on him. The one thing he wasn't good at was the thing he needed most now. Understanding girls. Maybe he should just run away and then he wouldn't have to deal with his feelings for Phoebe and Christine.

No, that is what cowards do. Who did he like more though? Maybe I should just go about the day and whoever I see first is who I'll be with. Erik laughed out loud in the shower at the thought.

If he really had to really think about it, he would stay with Christine. Those feelings for Phoebe were more like brotherly feelings. He just didn't want her to go out with that scumbag Tyler.

He would have to talk to her about it.

Erik walked out of the bathroom and into his room. Tyler had already left. _Probably to suck Phoebe's face off_, Erik thought bitterly.

Erik threw on his jeans and a shirt and went to go find Christine. He waited outside her door waiting for her to come out. Finally the door opened and Christine walked out. She had a pink baby-doll shirt and dark blue jeans on. Her hair was swept up in a high knot on her head.

"You look lovely Christine" Erik said as he gave her a hug.

"Oh, well thank you Erik, you look lovely yourself."

"Are you excited for the Christmas party?" Erik asked.

"I can't wait, we are getting really good." Christine said with a little bounce in her step.

"Well I think we should practice more. It's only a few weeks until we perform in front of everyone. I was thinking, if you want, that we could go to the dance afterwards together." Erik said nervously.

"Of course Erik, there isn't anyone else I would rather go with."

Erik tried to talk to Phoebe about dating Tyler, but the more he said he didn't like it, the more Phoebe seemed to like Tyler.

Only two days before the Christmas party. Everyone was very excited about it. Christine had saved some money and bought herself a new dress. It was pale blue and hung off her shoulders. It seemed to float to the floor. She looked stunning in it and Erik couldn't wait to see her all dressed up for the dance.

Erik walked Christine to her language class after her choir class.

"I'll see you for lunch." Erik said as she gave his hand a squeeze before dropping it to go to class.

Erik was walking down the corridor day dreaming about their normal lunch date when he walked into his art class. Phoebe had a chair saved for him as usual. They seemed to be on good terms when Phoebe wasn't talking about Tyler, or Erik wasn't taking about Christine. They kept their distances during afternoon time though. Erik couldn't stand to look at Phoebe and Tyler together, and Erik had the feeling Phoebe felt the same way about Erik and Christine.

"Oh Erik, I'm glad you're here." Phoebe said as Erik took his normal seat.

"Yeah, why is that, want me to prove I know more about art than you do?" Erik asked jokingly.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "No, we have a new student, he just transferred in from another boarding school." Phoebe turned and indicated a boy his age. He had golden brown hair that he kept tied neatly behind him.

Erik looked at him and noticed he was looking at his mask, but not gawking at him, just looking. Erik lowered his eyelids to slits.

"Erik, this is Raoul. Raoul this is Erik. Mr. Soy told him to partner with us."

Raoul held his hand out waiting for Erik to shake it. Erik barely grasped his hand before he dropped it.

"Be polite Erik, he has had to transfer schools, that's hard enough. You remember you first day." Phoebe said sternly.

Erik just shook his head and started working on his art project. He didn't even hear them talking. He just tuned them out. He had so few moments with Phoebe because of Christine, and Tyler; he didn't want some rich kid interfering with the little time he had with her.

Erik was out of his seat before the bell rang. "I'll see you later Phoebe" Erik shouted over his shoulder.

Erik made it to the dinning area before Christine did. He knew what she would get so he just got it for her. He sat at their usual table and waited for her to come in.

Christine had walked in and sat next to Erik. "Oh Erik you didn't have to get me lunch" Christine said placing a quick peck on his cheek. "That was very sweet on you."

Erik and Christine had been joking and talking until Raoul stepped up to their table. He sat down in one of the vacant seats.

"Hello Erik," Raoul said. He looked at Christine and smiled. "I'm Raoul," he said extending his hand.

Christine smiled back and shook his hand. "Hi Raoul, I'm Christine." Just then the bell rang.

Erik stood up quickly. "Come on Christine, I'll walk you to class."

"So what's your next class, Christine?" Raoul asked.

"History"

"Oh, that's my next class" Raoul said happily.

"Isn't that convenient" Erik growled.

Christine just patted Erik's back.

Erik walked with Christine and Raoul to history. "Bye Erik, I'll meet you at practice tonight." Christine promised.

Erik just nodded and went to his room. He shouldn't have skipped class, but he was in such a foul mood, he didn't want to do anything. He just sat at his desk staring out of the window.

He knew he shouldn't be jealous, but her couldn't help his emotions, they ran on their own. Christine was a beautiful girl, and he knew other guys would look at her, but it stung so much. She belonged to him and no one else.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wasn't going to add Raoul to the story, but I did at the last end, its a good thing I'm the writer :D. Please review, I love to read them, even if you have some ideas, let me know. I would love to see what my readers think might happen!! Happy Holidays!**

**Desiree'**


	6. Broken Hearts

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera characters, but the other's are mine, thanks to my neo friends. Also major thanks to Ara-la, my lovely beta reader, I couldn't be this good without you!**

**Chapter six: Broken Hearts**

Erik heard the soft knock at his door.

"Erik, are you in there?" Christine's soft voice floated to his ears.

Suddenly, he remembered he had missed their practice. Slowly, he stood up from the chair and answered the door.

"Christine, I'm sorry I missed our practice, I just lost track of time." Erik said lamely. Christine had a sad look on her face.

"Oh, its okay, mistakes happen." Christine said shrugging her shoulders. It was to late to practice now, but they still had a few minutes to spend with each other.

"Do you want to listen to music for a little while?" Christine asked.

Erik just stuck his arm out waiting for Christine to place her arm through his. A grin came to her face as she placed her hand gently in the crook of his arm. Erik grabbed a CD of a Mozart mix from the shelf next to the door.

They made their way to one of the many CD players in the common area. They sat listening to the beautiful piano melodies. "What are you learning in History?" Erik asked as she placed her head on his shoulder.

Christine's face crinkled like she smelled something bad. "The Boston tea party." Christine said. "You know I don't like history, I think it's a wasted subject."

"Now Christine, history is an important subject; there is so much that can be learnt from the past." Erik said sternly. "I think you should study more in history, if you like I can help you."

Christine just rolled her eyes. "So they canceled classes tomorrow to get ready for the Christmas party, what do you want to do?"

"I thought we could get some last minute practice in, and I think we should work on your history."

"Okay I agree, except to the history." Christine said smiling.

"Lights out in ten minutes," the voice said from the speaker box.

"I'll walk you to your room" Erik said standing up.

After he got back to his room he laid on his bed and fell asleep instantly.

He had a dreamless sleep for a change. He woke up in a good mood and took his usual morning shower. After he got dressed he walked to Christine's room but stopped short. Raoul was standing there talking to Christine. Erik melted into the shadows to see what they were saying.

"I'm sorry Raoul, I can't." Christine said

"Oh, is it because of that Erik guy?" Raoul said looking hurt.

"Erik is my boyfriend, and I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about him like that." Christine said sternly.

"Forgive me for saying this, but why do you go out with him? I could offer you so much more. Besides, it's a little weird that he wears a mask. Do you know why?"

Erik couldn't take anymore, he stepped out of the shadows. "Christine, are you ready for breakfast?" he said. He glared at Raoul with fury burning in his eyes.

_How dare he talk about him like that!_

"Erik" Christine said as she ran into his waiting arms. "Yes, lets go" They started to look away.

After breakfast they had gone to the choir room and practiced until Erik thought it was perfect for tomorrow. "You'll do wonderfully tomorrow Christine. I can tell you have been practicing"

"I know I can't wait, were going to knock everyone's socks off!" Christine said excited.

He put his violin back in the case and walked to the dinning area for dinner. They had missed lunch working on their performance. Just before they got their trays Phoebe tapped him on the shoulder.

"Erik could I have a word?" Phoebe asked looking at the floor.

Erik looked at Christine. She stiffened her body "Would you mind Christine?"

"No, I'll just eat dinner with Tabitha" Christine said. She grab her tray and walked away in a huff.

"Can we sit down Erik?" Phoebe asked.

He grabbed a tray and followed her to a table. "What's up Phoebe?" Erik asked as they started eating dinner.

"Well, I know we haven't really hung out in a long time, and I really miss you Erik, you're my best friend. I know you don't like Tyler, but were not dating anymore. I was really only dating him to make you jealous." Phoebe said as she hung her head in shame.

"Phoebe, I'm with Christine, I really like her" Erik said.

"Well it looks like she doesn't really like you all that much. She has been hanging out with Raoul an awful lot. She's even eating with him now." Phoebe said looking over at Christine.

Erik jerked his head around to see Raoul and Christine sitting close together at a table across the room. He pushed away from the table and stood up in a rush. He walked over to their table leaving Phoebe behind.

"Christine, I thought you were going to eat with Tabitha" Erik said with anger in his voice.

"Well I was going to, but she wasn't hungry, so I sat down and Raoul joined me." Christine said looking hurt at Erik's words.

"Fine, I can see where your feelings lie." said Erik angrily as he turned and walked away. He had tears in his eyes as he pushed people out of his way. Stumbling into his room, he slammed the door shut and went to sit on his bed. He balled his hands into fists and kneaded his head.

He heard pounding on his door.

"Erik let me in, we need to talk about this!" Christine said yelling through the door.

He ignored her pleas. He couldn't stand to see Raoul all over Christine. He was so mad he was seeing red. He cared about her a lot, but couldn't stand the jealous feelings about other guys talking to Christine. She didn't need a guy who would run away from her just because he saw a guy talk to her.

Christine was still banging on the door after ten minutes. He could hear her crying. He just ignored her, and after a while she finally left. He got up and unlocked the door. Tyler would be coming in soon.

He just laid back on his bed and slept. His dreams were troubling. He tossed and turned. How was he going to face her tomorrow at the performance? Maybe he should just skip it…

**Hope you liked it. Poor teenagers in love, its such a hard job. Please review, its what keeps me going. Happy Holidays!! **


	7. Revenge Can Be So Sweet

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera Characters, but the others are mine thanks to my neo friends. Also a huge thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader, whith whom I couldn't be this good.**

**Chapter 7: Revenge Can Be So Sweet**

Erik woke in a bad mood. He stomped into the bathroom and take his shower. How would he perform with Christine after what happened last night?

Erik walked out of the bathroom and put on his uniform. There might not be classes, but he supposed he would have to prepare for the performance. He still wasn't sure if he was going to go AWOL or not.

He walked out of the door and ran into someone. They had been knocking on his door. It was Christine.

"I knew I would catch you up this early." Christine said. She didn't look good. Her hair seemed disheveled and her face was red and puffy.

"Have you been crying Christine?" Erik asked with concern suddenly hating himself.

"Yes, I have been very upset Erik, I don't like Raoul, I like you. You are my boyfriend, I was just being nice to him." Christine said her voice wavering.

"It really hurt me to see Raoul all over you, and after he asked you out yesterday, how could I be sure that you didn't want him over me after all?"

"Wait, how did you know he asked me out?" Christine said looking up into Erik's eyes.

"That's beside the point." Erik said quickly.

"Have you been spying on me?" Christine asked with suspicion.

"No," Erik said, not meeting her eyes.

"You don't trust me?" Christine said

"I don't trust him." Erik growled.

"Well whatever. Are we going to practice before the performance?"

"No, I don't want you to over tax your voice. Your ready for tonight." Erik said making up his mind to go to the performance after all. "Lets get some breakfast. You should have some hot tea to relax your vocal cords."

After they got their food they sat down and started to eat. Erik didn't think they were back to their 'normal' behavior. Christine seemed to be holding back, and Erik felt uncomfortable.

"Oh Christine, I forgot, I told Phoebe I would help her with her music piece before tonight, she is having problems with one measure of music." Erik said just before they finished eating.

"Fine Erik," Christine said harshly. "You go and be with Phoebe, I might go and talk to Raoul."

Erik whipped his head around. "I thought I told you how I feel about you hanging out with him." Erik said angrily.

"You are not my boss Erik, I can be friends with whomever I like!" Christine said as she stood up and walked off not looking back at Erik.

Erik stood up furious. He walked off to find Phoebe and found her sitting at the piano waiting for him. She looked up when Erik slammed the door shut behind him.

"What's the matter Erik?" Phoebe asked concerned getting off the bench.

"Nothing, sit back down." Erik shouted at her as he sat on the bench next to her.

Phoebe looked hurt when Erik turned to look at her. "I'm sorry Pheebs, Christine and I just had a fight." Erik said taking a deep breath to calm himself.

Phoebe took her fingers off the piano keys and embraced Erik in a hug. "Oh I'm sorry Erik" Phoebe said as she held him. They sat that way for a long time before Erik pulled back.

"Better?" Phoebe asked?

"Yes, thank you Phoebe." Erik said as he placed his fingers on the keys. "So what are you having trouble with?"

She showed him and they practiced for hours. After they finished practicing Phoebe was relieved that she had it down. "Thank you so much Erik, I really didn't want to embarrass myself tonight."

"You'll do fine," Erik said reassuringly.

"So what's the deal with Christine?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know. I told her not to hang out with Raoul, and she did anyway," Erik said getting mad again.

"Well maybe you should just forget about her." Phoebe said peeking at Erik from the side of her eyes.

"Maybe I should." Erik said moodily. "Come on, we need to get ready."

Erik got of the piano bench and walked back to his dorm. After he got ready he walked to the big stage where they were performing. He saw Christine on the other side of the stage and when she saw him looking at her she turned her back and walked away.

Erik started to warm up on his violin. The lights came on signaling the performance was about to start. Christine and the rest of the choir took their place and they started.

It turned out beautifully. Christine and Erik might have been having problems, but they performed wonderfully. After the performance was the dance. Erik was supposed to go with Christine, but he didn't think that was going to happen. He walked slowly back to his dorm. He was just going to sulk in his room. Before he reached his room though someone shouted his name.

He turned and saw Phoebe running towards him. "Erik where are you going?" Phoebe asked when she reached him.

"I'm just going to go to bed."

"Why don't you come to the dance with me?" Phoebe asked blushing.

If Christine was going to completely ignore him completely then why shouldn't he just go to the dance with Phoebe. She was his friend after all.

"Yeah, okay, I'll go get ready, you should get ready too."

Phoebe's face broke into a smile and she rushed off. Erik got his suit on and replaced his white mask with a black one to match his suit.

He walked to Phoebe's room and knocked on the door. Phoebe opened the door. She looked beautiful. Her dress was black and seemed to shine in the light. It was a strapless dress and fit her body snugly until it reached her hips then had a little bit of bounce in it until in reached the floor.

"You look beautiful Phoebe."

"Thank you Erik, you look very handsome yourself."

He held his arm out for her and walked her to the dance. The music was loud when he opened the door and they walked in. Phoebe grabbed his hand. "Oh I wanted to see Alexis' dress, she left before I got to see her."

Erik was dragged by Phoebe to see Alexis. "You look very nice Alexis" Erik said and he saw her blush. "Thanks Erik." Alexis looked at Phoebe and raised her eyebrows. "So lets see all of you Erik" Alexis said and Erik turned on the spot, but stopped halfway when he saw Christine in an embrace with Raoul.

_No feelings for him, huh? _Erik thought angrily. He finished the turn and grabbed Phoebe by the shoulders, pulling her close to him. He looked down and placed his lips to her full red ones. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss back.

He had kissed her out of revenge, but somehow this felt right.

**Please review and give any tips or hints you think might happen, I love to read what my readers are thinking might happen. If you review, make sure you check my profile page to get your answers! Have a wonderful Christmas, I probably won't post a new chapter untill the following Monday since I have family coming in after Christmas.**

**Desiree'**


	8. Sudden Shocking News

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera characters, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends! Much thanks to my wonderful beta reader, without who I would be lost!**

**Chapter eight: Sudden Shocking News**

Erik pulled back from the kiss with Phoebe. She still had a look of surprise in her eyes. Slowly though, she began to grin.

"Wow Erik, that was…unexpected-didn't you say we were going to be just friends." Phoebe said teasing him.

Erik thought of telling her the truth behind his kiss, but that would only hurt her, and there was no sense to that. He did feel a certain spark when he was lip to lip with her. When she kissed her earlier this year he didn't feel that spark.

"I just got the urge to do it, is that okay?" Erik asked.

"Of course Erik, I've wanted this for a long time you know." Phoebe said shyly. "Does this mean that you and Christine are officially through?"

Erik turned and couldn't see Christine or Raoul. "Yes, were done, we have been hurt by each other to many times, but I don't want to talk about that anymore."

"Okay, do you want to dance then?"

Erik took her hand and walked her to the dance floor where they danced all night, stopping only to get something to drink and catch their breath. He always did have a great time with Phoebe, and she loved to dance, so there was a light in her eyes when she did. He liked seeing that light in her eyes.

It was about eleven at night and the dance would be over in about an hour. "So are we like an item now?" Phoebe asked as they sat down to drink some water and catch their breath.

Erik laughed. "Yeah I guess we are."

Phoebe just laughed in return and gave Erik a kiss. He embraced her and spun her around so her dress spun out from her. He heard her squeal in delight and he gently set her down until her feet touched the ground.

He heard someone clear their throat and tap him on the shoulder. He turned expecting it to be Christine or Raoul, but it was an adult in a police uniform.

"Are you Erik Destler?"

Erik looked at him confused. "Yes"

"Son, you need to come with us." He said as he turned and walked out towards the door.

Erik grabbed Phoebe's hand and started to follow the man out of the dance. They followed the cop into an empty classroom. There were three other cops there along with the headmaster of the school.

Phoebe stood behind Erik as he stopped just inside the door. The cop that came and got him sat on the desk. "Son, we have some bad news for you…" "I'm not your son" Erik said before the cop could go on. He had a hard scowl on his face.

The cop looked taken aback. "Well, it turns out that your foster parents were in an accident and they didn't make it."

Erik felt like the world was collapsing around him. He had never really opened himself up to his foster parents, but they were talking about officially adopting him. He wouldn't be an orphan.

Erik felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew it was Phoebe and he reached up and threw it off. He could see the hurt look on her face and he didn't care. His face was a hard scowl. "Just leave me alone, I'm always alone that's how I like it." Erik screamed at her. Phoebe's face was of shock.

"Listen Erik, my wife and I were talking about adopting, I have already gotten in touch with a lawyer and he is drawing up the papers for us to adopt you. That way we know you will get the education you deserve." Headmaster James said.

"What do I care about a stupid education." Erik growled at him. He had so many thoughts running through him that he just broke down; tears started poring out of his eyes.

_Why did this kind of thing always happen to him?_

A young woman of about 32 walked into the room and went directly to the headmaster. "Is this him?" She asked. James nodded his head.

Erik was more confused than ever. "I want some answers" Erik screamed at everyone in the small classroom.

The young woman who had just come in spoke up first. "Erik, my name is Lisa. My husband and I are drawing up papers for your adoption."

"I am Headmaster James' wife." Erik just looked at her. He was suddenly was overcome with a sense to be needed. He ran to her and threw his arms around her holding her tight. She looked shocked but wrapped her arms around him none the less.

"I'm tired of being alone." Erik whispered into her collar bone. She just hugged him tighter. "You're not going to be." She whispered back.

"Come with me Erik." Lisa said. She turned him around and started walking out of the classroom. Phoebe was still there standing besides the door. He locked eyes with her and tried to speak, but nothing came out. When Erik walked by her she reached out again. "I'm sorry Erik" Phoebe said quietly. This time he didn't shrug her hand off but reached up and held her hand and squeezed before letting go.

Lisa led him to a part of the building kids weren't allowed. It was the teachers hall. She led him through that area and outside. He could see a small building that almost looked like a house.

"We want you to stay here tonight, and we'll talk in the morning. Maybe things will be more worked out in the morning." She led him into a small room. Two of the walls were painted silver, the other two blue. There was a simple full sized bed in it. It was obviously a guest room.

"Is there anything else you need?" Lisa asked.

Erik shook his head and she left. He looked at the room and was overcome with anger and grief at the same time. He saw the window at the other end of the room and went to it. He threw it open and climbed out.

There were woods all around him. He ran off into the heart of the wooded area. It wasn't until he could see the sky that he let all of his emotion go. He screamed out in agony and sank to his knees. He had been so close to a real family, now it was taken away from him. Slowly tears fell from his face and he laid on the cold hard ground and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes he couldn't see anything. It must still be dark out. He got off the ground and realized that sleeping on the ground was a bad idea. His head was pounding and he ached from head to toe.

He finally made it to the little building and climbed into the window. He went straight to his bed and crashed on it. He willed himself to go back to sleep and finally, uneasy sleep took over him.

**I had a brief time before my family came so I thought I would post on more chapter to get everyone through. Thank you so much readers for reviewing, I love to read what you have to say, so keep reviewing! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!**


	9. New Surroundings

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera characters, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends! I give a huge thanks to my wonderful Beta reader!**

**Chapter 9: New Surroundings**

Erik woke in a soft bed he wasn't used to. Memories of last night flooded over him. What is going to happen now?

He sat up and swung his legs over the bed, realizing that he was still in his suit he had worn to the dance. Erik heard a knock at the door and just wanted to be left alone.

Erik got off the bed and walked towards the door and opened it. It was Lisa and she had a tray of breakfast food. "Good morning Erik, I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you some breakfast." she said as she walked into the room and placing the tray on a small desk in the corner that Erik hadn't noticed.

"Thanks"

"Erik, I know you are hurting now, but when you are ready, we have to get some things figured out, so please join us in the front room when you can." Lisa said as she turned and walked out of the door.

Erik walked over to the tray of food and looked down at it there were three pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, strawberries, and a large glass of orange juice. Erik slowly ate the strawberries and bacon and drained the glass of orange juice. He picked up the tray and headed out of the door quietly. He found the kitchen easily and placed the dishes in the sink. He started to move towards the front room when he heard their conversation.

"I'm sorry sir, this just isn't possible, it would seem like favoritism."

"What you just expect us to throw him out on the streets, look at his grades, he needs a good education so he can succeed in the world, he will do amazing things." Erik recognized the headmaster James' voice.

"Well, we'll see." He heard the man stand up and leave the small house.

Erik was obviously causing James and Lisa problems. Erik would refuse the adoption and just leave, run away. He was smart enough to make it on his own. He might only be 13, but he could survive. His mask would be a problem though, people would ask to many questions, and he wouldn't be hired anywhere.

Erik started to make his way back to his room when Lisa stood in the way behind him. Lisa just shook her head and placed her hands on his shoulders. He was very uncomfortable and shifted until her hands came off his shoulder. His cold amber eyes looked up into her. Erik didn't like to be touched by just anyone.

She turned and walked into the room her husband was in and Erik slowly followed her. "So Erik, we have talked to the police and a lawyer has looked over your foster parents will. All of the house and positions will go to his cousin, but they left you their money. It will go into a bank account until you turn the 18."

Erik was slightly taken aback that they had left him something. He knew they were fairly rich; that was they had sent him to such an expensive school. He wondered absent-mindedly about how much there was in the bank now. It would collect interest too.

"Now Erik, we have talked to his cousin and he has made the funeral plans. He has taken care of everything. The funeral is just going to be a simple graveyard service on Sunday. James and I will take you." Lisa said.

Erik again just nodded his head. "We have talked to our lawyer and we have started the papers on your adoption." James said.

"Now I know you are settled into your dorm room, but if you like you could stay here in the house. That bedroom you were sleeping in is yours, we can get a better desk and anything else you need." James said.

Erik thought about this. It would be nice to get away from Tyler, but he was already an outsider because of his mask; he didn't want to be even more of an outsider by being adopted by the headmaster.

"Actually I would rather stay there." Erik said. "It's nothing against you, but I'm already settled there." Erik said. He didn't want to hurt their feelings, but they probably understood.

"Okay, well get it ready for the summer and if you change your mind." Lisa said standing up. "I'm sure your friends are waiting for you, and you probably want to get out of that suit. Just make sure you come back by 9 o'clock tomorrow so we can go to the funeral."

Erik nodded and stood up. He had his hand on the door and he turned. "Thanks for going through all this trouble for me. I really appreciate it." Lisa and James just smiled. He slowly made his way to his dorm and found it empty. He headed directly for the shower and just let the steam wash over him. He still couldn't believe everything that had happened over the last 24 hours.

It seemed like forever ago that he was getting ready for the Christmas recital. After he finished getting ready for the day he decided to find Phoebe. He didn't even know where she would be so he headed towards her room and knocked. No on answered she he figured she was probably out and a small surge of anger came over him. Why was she not sitting in her room worried about him? She knew his foster parents had died. Was she out with another guy? No, Phoebe wouldn't do that. Erik looked at his watch and saw that it was lunch time.

He headed towards the dining area. He saw that Phoebe, Christine and Raoul were sitting at the same table. This couldn't be good. He walked up to the table and cleared his throat. Christine looked up and saw Erik she stood up very quickly.

"Oh Erik, I'm so sorry, Phoebe just told us what happened. Is there anything we can do?" Christine said putting her hand on his shoulder. He could feel the warmth of her hand through his shirt, but he couldn't think like that, he was Phoebe's boyfriend, not Christine's.

He shook his head. Christine dropped her hand from his shoulder and sat down at the table again. Erik sat next to Phoebe.

"So what's going to happen Erik?" Raoul asked kindly.

"The headmaster and his wife want to adopt me." Erik said simply. He would feel much better if Raoul wasn't sitting here. He looked at him with anger in his eyes. Erik could easily talk to Christine and Phoebe, but with him there he didn't want to say anything.

"I have to go to the funeral tomorrow."

Phoebe just placed her hand over his on the table. "You know we're all here for you, Erik." She said.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. He didn't listen to any of the conversations going on around him. He just nodded his head when he heard his name.

The next morning Erik donned on the suit he had been wearing Friday. It needed to be cleaned, but it would have to do. He made his way to the little house on the edge of the school and knocked on the door. He didn't know if he should have just walked in. They said he was welcome there, but he still felt like an outsider.

Lisa opened the door and smiled at him. "Erik, this is your home, you don't need to knock. Just come it. James is still getting ready, then we can leave."

Erik came into the house and really looked around for the first time. The small front room had a simple 28 inch black television on a simple wooden stand. The couch was overstuffed but looked welcoming. On the walls were a few puzzles that had been glued together and framed. They were Thomas Kinkade's work. He noticed a few knick knacks on the small tables.

He walked over to the couch and sat down. Lisa came back into the room and sat next to Erik. She looked very nice in a plain black dress. Her hair was up in a bun. "Do you want anything before we leave?"

"No thank you. I'm fine."

James walked into the front room. "Okay are we all ready?"

Erik stood up and followed Lisa and James into a door through the kitchen. He saw a tiny silver 98 sedan. He got into the back.

It was an hour drive to the funeral. Lisa and James had chatted on and off through the whole ride, but Erik didn't say anything he just sat out looking out of the window. Erik wondered why they were being buried three hours away from where they lived, but didn't think too much about it.

Finally they arrived and Erik stepped out of the car. He walked solemnly behind the two adults.

**Well I hoped you like the chapter! Sorry it took me so long to post this, I had family over. If you send me a review to check out my profile for an answer. I couldn't keep writing this without my wonderful readers! In the next chapter there is going to be tons of drama, but who know knows if its going to be good or bad :D.**

**Desiree'**


	10. Betrayal

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but my other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends! I owe a huge thanks to my wonderful Beta reader!**

**Chapter 10: Betrayal**

Erik looked down at the two closed caskets. They were both white with silver trimming. He might not have known them well - but whether or not he wished to admit it, he had liked them, and now missed them.

The funeral went by quickly. Erik was in a blur the entire time and he didn't realize it was over until he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. Lisa was motioning for Erik to follow her. He silently followed James and Lisa back to the car, but before he reached it he heard his name being called out. Erik, James, and Lisa turned around to see who it was calling. It was David's, his foster parent, cousin.

"Erik, I was going through their house and I grabbed a few items that I thought you might like to have. I know they left it all to me - but here's some mementoes." He handed Erik a shoe box. He opened it up and saw a few pictures a lace handkerchief and a pocket knife.

He could feel the tears brimming in his eyes again, but he fought back the tears.. "Thank you, that was very thoughtful." Erik said as he turned back towards the car and got in.

He looked out of the window at Lisa and James still talking to him. He saw Lisa write something on a piece of paper and hand it to him. He nodded tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket and left.

"What was that about?" Erik asked when they got into the car and started to pull away.

"Oh, I just gave him our address in case he wanted to write you and keep in touch." Lisa said.

Erik just rolled his eyes. That was only the second or third time he met him, so why keep in touch?

After they got back to the school Erik started to head towards his dorm but was stopped by Christine. She practically ran into him and he dropped his shoe box. He bent down and picked it up. Luckily the lid didn't come off.

"Oh Erik, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Christine said looking up at him after he stood back up. He could see his reflection in her brown eyes. He was paler that usual and his white half mask shone in her eyes. It was at that point that Erik wondered if she ever wondered what was under his mask.

"Its okay Christine, it's my fault, I wasn't paying attention." Erik said quietly. "Where's Raoul?" Erik asked savagely.

"I don't know Erik, we're just friends." Christine said. For some reason her eyes seemed to fill with tears. "I never like him like that, I always liked you…I still do." Christine said the last part very quietly.

Erik shook his head to make sure he heard her correctly. He sighed. Why was he always hurting a girl around him?

"Look Christine, I know we had issues, but I'm with Phoebe. I'm sorry. I still like you too, but Phoebe was there for me when I needed her to be, and I can't do that to her. I like her too. I'm just torn." He was looking at his shoes hating himself for being so blunt with her. When he looked at her he saw that there were tears sliding down her cheeks.

He wiped them off with the backs of his fingers with his free hand. "Christine I'm sorry." Erik said and pulled her into a one armed hug. "I don't want to lose you though. You're to special, something about you just pulls me in. I still want to be friends."

"Okay, I would rather have that then nothing Erik." Christine said into Erik's shoulders. He heard her sniff against his shoulder. "I should really go change out of my suit Christine."

She backed away from him and nodded. "Will you still give me music lessons?" Christine asked.

"Of course."

She broke out into a watery smile. "I'll see you tomorrow then." Christine said as she walked away.

He watched her walk away and felt a small pang in his stomach. _What was that about?_ He just shook his head and started walking back to his room, but though he would tell Phoebe that he was back. He knew she would be worried about him.

He knocked on her door and Tabitha answered. "Is Phoebe in there?" Erik asked. "Umm, no she left a while ago. Sorry." Tabitha said. He saw her give a quick glance at his mask and close the door.

Erik scowled at the closed door. _Now where could she be! _He was starting to get very upset with Phoebe. Every time he tried to find her she was never where he thought she would be.

He just made his way towards his room only to find it locked. That stupid roommate of his always annoyed him.

He pounded on the door "McWillen I demand you open this door at once." Erik shouted pounding on the door until he heard the lock click. He threw open the and he head it smack the wall. Hopefully he didn't put a hole in the wall. That would be a fun conversation with James, 'yeah, thanks for adopting me, by the way I put a hole in the wall'.

"McWillen, what are you doing with the door closed." Erik asked as he stepped into his room. He stopped short when he saw Phoebe in the room also.

He was outraged. "What the hell are you doing in here with the door locked with McWillen?" Erik shouted at Phoebe.

He could see the fear in Phoebe's eyes and in Tyler's. He dropped the shoe box on the table next to the door and walked toward Tyler. His hands were clenched into fists. Before he knew it he had punched Tyler across the jaw.

He heard Phoebe scream and felt as she tried to wedge herself between Tyler and Erik. "Erik don't it's not what you think." Phoebe yelled.

He took his eyes off Tyler's bleeding mouth and looked into Phoebe's eyes. They were wide with fear.

"Get away from me!" Erik yelled in her face. "I hate you, how could you do this to me." He grabbed her upper arm roughly and escorted her out of the room. "Get out" Erik said as he pushed her slightly out of the room. He slammed the door shut in her face and locked the door.

He turned back to Tyler who was cowering on the floor. His stupid blond hair was usually in spikes was matted down.

"You disgust me." Erik said loudly. His fists were shaking with rage. He felt like hitting him again, but he held back. He turned on his heel and unlocked the door. He threw it open almost hitting himself and walked out slamming the door closed.

He went to the music room. There were a few people in the corner but Erik yelled at them to get out. They started to walk up to him to protest and they saw the look in Erik's eyes and left quickly. He shut the door and headed for the piano.

His fingers were pounding out the music. He didn't know what he was doing but soon he found some spare paper and started to write it down. He had never written music before and it felt nice.

Erik pounded on the keys until his fingers hurt. He had missed dinner, but didn't care. Finally his piece was finished. He picked up the papers and folded them carefully putting them in his inside pocket.

**So I hoped you like the chapter! Please review and make sure you check my profile for an answer! I appreciate all of my readers because I couldn't keep writing this fan fiction without you. If you have anything to say, or any ideas or questions, please let me know I would love to answer them! I just want to say Happy Birthday to my first daughter Aubrey, I know your in a better place and I can't wait to be with you again.**

**Desiree'**


	11. Who's Better, Friend Or Crush?

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends! I have a huge thanks to my wonderful Beta reader!**

Chapter 11: Who's better, friend or crush?

Erik looked at the small wall clock and sighed. Only fifteen minutes until the lights were going to be turned off. How would he face Tyler after what he had done? He probably broke his nose he had hit him so hard.

He pushed off the piano bench and opened the doors. He saw something moving in the shadows and ignored it. Gracefully he walked in the silent hallways hearing someone behind him. _Enough was enough_, he thought angrily; why would someone want to follow him. He rounded the corner and dodged into an empty classroom. He waited in silence until he saw brown curls walk past the window in the door he was looking out. It was Christine.

He silently opened the door. "Christine, why are you following me?" Erik asked from the shadows of the doorway.

Christine jumped as he spoke. He saw her hand fly up to her heart. "Erik, you scared me." Christine said blushing. He walked into the lighted area.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Well I heard through the grapevine that you and Phoebe broke up and I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Erik looked mildly shocked before he let all the emotion fall from his face. She had walked up to him and he could smell her perfume. "Thanks Christine, yeah I'm okay." Erik said quietly.

"I heard what you were working on, it was beautiful, yet sad at the same time. Is that what your working on during class, I don't really recognize it." Christine said.

"No, actually I wrote it."

Christine's eyebrows shot into her wispy bangs. "Really? Wow, Erik, that was amazing."

He just gave a small smile. "We need to get you back to your room before they turn the lights off, lets go." Erik said as he gently grasped her elbow and started steering her to her room. "Next time, don't hide from me Christine." Erik said as they reached her doorway.

"Okay, goodnight Erik." Christine said as she opened her door. He turned and started to make his way to his door. Halfway there the lights turned off, but it didn't bother Erik; he could find his way back easily. He reached the door and paused before going into it. What would he say to Tyler?

He pushed the door open and saw that Tyler wasn't in the room. Where in the world could he be?

Erik didn't bother to worry about it and went straight to bed. Tomorrow was the first day of Winter break and people would be going home for the Holidays. _I guess I am home_, Erik thought. Tyler must have slept on the communal couches. He was probably going home for Christmas.

Erik lay on his bed and looked up at the stucco ceiling his thoughts wandering. Christine had just told him that she still cared for him, and he for her, but had he got over Phoebe quickly enough that he could go back into Christine's arms?

Finally, sleep took him as he thought about what he should do. He woke to sunlight creeping over his face. How unusual for him to wake up after the sun rose. He did his morning routine and dressed for the day. He walked out of his room and found kids running, yelling, laughing all over the place. They were getting ready for flights, and trains to go home.

He had his Christmas gift for Phoebe in his pocket. Should he even give Phoebe her gift?

He knew Christine was staying at school for the Holidays, but Phoebe was leaving. Maybe he could catch her before she left. He made his way through the crowded halls and found the redhead backing out of her room her backpack thrown over her shoulder. He cleared his throat to let her know he was standing behind her.

She turned and looked at him blushing. "Hi Erik." She said softly.

He held out a small gift wrapped in light blue wrapping paper. "Merry Christmas" He said as he walked away. He pushed past many people giving him ugly looks. "Wait Erik, we have to talk." He heard Phoebe say in the distance, but he kept going. He needed to think a while before talking to her.

At breakfast Christine sat at his table. "Morning Erik." Christine said cheerfully. Erik couldn't help but be excited to sit next to her. "I'm so glad that people are leaving. The whole school seems to be gone." Christine said as she ate her bagel.

"Christine, we need to talk about last night before Phoebe and I broke up." Erik said as he put his fork down. "I really like you, but I don't know if it's right for us to go out again."

"Oh, well you know where I stand on this subject, I want to be with you. I won't hurt you like she did." She smiled at her. Every tooth in her mouth seemed to shine a brilliant white.

Erik couldn't help but smile back at her and reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'm going to visit Lisa and James would you like to meet them?" Erik said.

"Oh, well okay. That's a little strange to be talking to our headmaster though." Christine said finishing her breakfast.

"You get used to it." Erik stood and pulled her up out of her chair. He walked with her talking about the weather. It was very cold outside, and would probably snow tonight despite the sun. He opened the door and walked in. "Hello anyone home?" Erik called out. It surprised him how comfortable he felt in this little house.

Lisa came out of the kitchen area in an apron and smiled at Erik. "Hi Erik, who's you friend?"

"Lisa, this is Christine, Christine Lisa." Erik said as Christine stuck her hand out and shook Lisa's. "Nice to meet you."

"Erik I thought through the holidays you could stay here since there is only a few people left at school, we could get to know each other better."

"Oh, yeah that sounds fine." Lisa smiled and went back into the kitchen. He could hear the dishes rattling.

The rest of the afternoon they hung out at the house watching t.v. and talking about music.

"Christine, will you be staying for dinner?" Lisa asked after a while.

"Oh, yes please."

When dinner was ready Erik, Christine, Lisa, and James ate. They all had a wonderful time talking and joking around with each other.

Erik was walking Christine back to her room liking how quite the halls were. He had almost forgotten Christine was walking quietly beside him.

"I really like James and Lisa, they seem like wonderful parents, and you seem so casual with them." Christine said. She walked to the couch and sat down. "Will you stay with me a while?"

Erik just nodded his head and sat next to her. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Is everything okay?" Erik asked concerned.

"Yes. I just miss my family. I wish I could have gone home for the Holidays. This is the first year I haven't spend Christmas with them."

"Well tomorrow is Christmas Eve, maybe we can hang out again. We can do whatever you like. We could go to the town if you like, we could walk around; just get out of the school."

Christine's face lit up. "Oh that would be wonderful Erik, thank you." Christine said throwing her arms around him.

"Well I should get back." Erik said standing up offering his arm to Christine. She gladly slipped her arm through his. After he walked her back to her dorm he headed back to the little house. He opened the little door and saw Lisa and James sitting on the couch sharing a blanket.

"Erik, did you have a good time today?" James asked as he sat on the chair across the room.

"Yes, I was wondering if Christine and I could go to town tomorrow. She's depressed about not going home and I thought being out of the school would lift her spirits."

"Well, yes if you like, just please be careful."

Erik nodded his head and stood up. "Well I'm going to bed. Good night."

He went straight to his room and laid down on his bed thinking about today and what would happen tomorrow. Would it be wrong to start dating Christine again after what Phoebe did to him? She had said it wasn't what he thought; maybe he was just overreacting. He wouldn't make a decision until he talked to Phoebe again after she got back. It seemed like such a long time until she got back though.

**I hope you liked the chapter! Let me know what you think, or if you have questions, or comments, anything! Make sure if you leave me a reply to check out my profile page to get an answer!**

**Desiree'**


	12. Good Times

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends! I have a huge thanks to my amazing Beta reader, I'm so glad you put up with me!**

Chapter 12: Good Times

Erik woke early on Christmas Eve. The sun had just started to rise, and he could see the pink and gold clouds from his window. Hopefully the day would be nice.

He got up and took his normal shower. Lisa had already stocked the spare bathroom - no, his bathroom. He walked back into his room placing his mask on his face. He opened the closet and found clothes already hanging in there. They weren't his clothes; they must be new.

He threw on a black button up shirt and dark blue jeans and caught a glimpse of himself in the window. All dark clothes, that was how he saw his life, dark. There did seem to be a shimmer of light in it though, thanks to Phoebe, and Christine. Of course, Phoebe did cause another dark light in his world.

He walked out of his bedroom and could smell breakfast cooking. "Oh, Erik, you're up early." Lisa said when he walked into the kitchen. "What would you like to eat?"

"I'm not hungry, thanks." Erik said as he sat down at the kitchen table. He had a slight frown on his face.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes, it's nothing really." Erik sais quickly. He did feel comfortable around Lisa, but not enough to ask her for advice on girls.

"So I'll take you and Christine to town today, what time would you like me to pick you up?"

"I was thinking after 4 o'clock, if it isn't to inconvenient for you."

"No, that sounds okay, I'll just pick you up at the library."

"Perfect, thank you Lisa. I'm going to go get Christine, then we'll be back." Erik got up from the table and started to walk down the quiet halls. It was so strange to not see anyone in the halls. People were always running around playing instruments, dancing, singing.

He knocked on her door and Christine opened it with a huge smile on her face. Her hair was pulled half up, she had a red turtle neck on with a heart shaped necklace. Her jeans were light blue and she had white tennis shoes. She looked stunning.

"Are you ready to go? Lisa said she would drive us and pick us up about 4 o'clock"

After Lisa had dropped them off Erik held out his arm for her which she gently placed her arm through. "Where would you like to go first?" Erik asked her.

"Well I would like to go to the music store in town. I would like to pick some things up."

Erik led her through town to the music store. There were guitars in the window, and piano's on display. "Can I help you?" a bored looking girl asked from the counter.

"Yes, I was looking for this piece of music on Salome." Christine said and the women went into the stock room.

"Christine, I had no idea that you like opera," Erik said, looking shocked.

"Yes, I have always wanted to go to one, but I haven't gone to one yet." Christine said shrugging.

"If you like I could help you perfect it."

"Oh I would love that!" Christine exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. The woman came back and scanned it. "That will be $19.47" Christine opened her purse and took out a $20 and gave it to the woman getting $.53 back. She put it in a bag and handed it over the counter.

Erik walked over to the piano and sat down on the bench. He started to play a piece from Salome making Christine smile. She sat next to him and just started at the keys and watched Erik's fingers roam all over the keys. After an hour or so Erik heard Christine's stomach rumble.

"Come, lets get something to eat." Erik said as she stood up. Christine gracefully got to her feet and walked out of the door with Erik close behind her.

He walked her to a small café that wasn't really a café; it was too modern to be a café. They both had a simple lunch and the waiter put the check on the table. Erik stood up and walked to the front and paid the bill. He walked back to booth and sat across from Christine.

"So Christine, tell me about your family."

She told him all about her father, that he worked two full time jobs to make enough to send her here. She was an only child, and her mother passed away giving birth to her.

After twenty minutes she finally finished the whole sad story. He looked into her brown eyes, and wasn't sure what to say. She bounded up from her table. "Okay, where would you like to go?" Christine said with a smile on her face.

That was why Erik liked Christine, she didn't get emotional all the time and just took what life threw at her. He stood up and grinned. "Well actually, I told Lisa we would meet her at the library, and I was wanting to check out a few things. The school's library is in desperate need of an update."

They walked into the big library and just marveled at size of it. There were bookshelves from front to back packed full of books.

Christine and Erik spend the remainder of the time looking through several books trying to find something that would interest them. At four o'clock they checked out their books with their new library cards and walked out to see Lisa's car waiting. The sun was already starting to set.

They drove in silence back to the school. They got out of the car when Lisa spoke up. "Christine, I hope you will be staying for dinner again."

She nodded and gave her thanks. Dinner went well, like the night before and they had a good time with plenty of conversation. Erik walked Christine back to her room at the end of the meal.

"Good night Christine." Erik said and started to leave. He heard her call out his name and he turned. She looked up at him and smiled. She seemed to blush. "Never mind." She murmured. She turned and opened her room and disappeared. Erik just shook his head and headed back to his new home.

Lisa and James were waiting for him in the front room when he got in. "Erik, in our family we always open one gift on Christmas Eve." James said when he sat on the chair. He pulled out a small box in blue paper, he gave it to Erik. Erik accepted the box with small surprise on his face. "Well, open it." Lisa said smiling.

Erik ripped open the gift to see a nice silver watch. He needed a new one; his was worn and cracked. "Thank you, I really appreciate it." Erik said with a small smile on his face. Lisa got up and walked over to him and gave him a quick hug. "Tomorrow, I hope you'll invite Christine to a late lunch." She said to Erik with a smile. "Now off to bed. Good night Erik."

Erik stood up and walked to his room. He had not expected anything from them. Maybe they really did care about him. He fell asleep with the thoughts of family in his head.

**I havn't been getting a lot of reviews and I'm starting to get depressed, and I'm wondering if I should keep this story up. Please review, and help me keep this story alive. As usual, thanks to my wonderful readers, and if you do leave me a review make sure you check out my profile to an answer! Please keep reading.**

**Desiree'**


	13. A Very Merry Christmas

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends! Arl-la you are a wonderful Beta reader, I think you so much!**

Chapter 13: A Very Merry Christmas

Christine's POV

Christine woke in the dark room. She rolled over and snuggled deeper into the covers. Then it hit her - _it's Christmas!_ Of course she wasn't at home with her father, but he worked so hard to keep her in school he couldn't afford to bring her home except during the summer when she had to go home. How would she handle being away from Erik?

She heard a knock on her door and smiled. Of course it would be Erik, who else could it be? She threw back the covers and grabbed her robe from the end of the bed. She walked over and threw open the door. Erik was standing there with a small smile on his face. He had on black pants and shirt with his usual black mask. She could see the beautiful amber color shining through the eye holes.

"Merry Christmas Erik." Christine said as she wrapped her arms around his torso. She felt him tense at her hug and she stepped back instantly.

"Lisa and James don't know I'm here, but I couldn't leave you by yourself on Christmas day, go get dressed and we can spend the day together." Erik said.

She flashed him a huge white smile and closed the door. Practically running to her wardrobe Christine threw on a yellow baby doll shirt and khaki pants. She looked at her curly mess of hair and sighed. Deciding it was hopeless, pulled it into a clip.

She was putting on clear lip-gloss when she realized she was getting all dolled up for nothing. Erik said he liked her, but had he gotten over Phoebe? Christine saw the look on his face when he came out of the music room. She found out what had happened. How could she not, it was flying around the school like wildfire. How could Phoebe do that to Erik? He was perfect in every way, why would she hurt him like that?

She pushed that thought out of her head, he was waiting for her, and didn't that mean something? She had her hand on the door knob when she forgot to grab Erik's gift. She walked to the dresser and shoved around her clothes to find the green parcel. It was several sheets of blank music sheets that said at the top 'from the mind of Erik'. She knew he would like it.

Christine opened the door to see Erik leaning against the wall next to the door. "Merry Christmas Erik; I hope you like it." Christine said as she placed the gift in Erik's hands. He looked at her, "Christine, you don't need to spend money on me." Erik said as he tried to give the gift back but she just smiled and shook her head.

Erik rolled his eyes and tore open the gift. He smiled from ear to ear flashing brilliant white teeth. Christine felt her heart flutter for a second. Suddenly she was pulled into a huge hug from Erik. She was so small she only reached his collar bone.

When Erik pulled back from their hug he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small red box. He put it in her hand and quickly looked away. She opened the small box and saw a locket. She looked down at the tiny silver locked and thought it looked familiar. If she hadn't known better she would have thought it was her mothers locket. She pulled it out of the box and opened the tiny oval locket. It had a picture of her mother and father on one side and a picture of her when she was about four years old.

She looked up and had tears in her eyes. This was the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given her. She found his eyes in the gloom. "Erik, how…"

"Well I knew your address and I wrote to you dad and I asked if there was anything your mom had, that would remind you of her, and he said she had a silver locket, and described it, so I looked and found one similar to it. He also sent me the pictures." Erik said.

Christine didn't know what to say. She was so stunned that he would go to something like that for her. Tears slowly slipped down her cheeks. She felt Erik wipe the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know what to say, Erik." Christine said quietly. She felt him take the necklace from her hands and put it on her.

"Thank you Erik, this is the most thoughtful gift ever." Christine whispered. She wrapped her arms around him. She felt like she was standing next to him for ever, but it could have only been a second or two before she pulled back from him.

She stood up on her tip-toes and placed a small kiss on his lips. She looked into his eyes and couldn't read what was behind those amber windows.

"So Christine, Lisa should be getting a late lunch ready, I told her I would help out, so we should probably go." Erik said and Christine blushed and nodded her head. They started walking to the small house in silence when she felt his hand close over hers. She laced her fingers through his and smiled to herself_. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all. _

They walked into the small house and enjoyed her time there. Lisa and James were really nice people and they seemed to really care about Erik even though they hadn't known him for long. She watched as they opened a few gifts from each other. Soon after that they had a huge Christmas dinner.

After the meal Erik and Christine sat in the den while listening to Erik playing the piano. Christine hummed a few bars but just sat and listened to the magic coming from the piano. She could feel the music settle into her whole body, it was taking over her mind, she felt hypnotized by the music.

After a while Erik stopped playing and looked at Christine, once the music stopped Christine seemed to come out of her trance. She looked up at him and smiled. "Am I boring you Christine?" Erik asked looking sad.

How could that kind of music bore her? It was beautiful and seemed to speak to her. "Of course not Erik, I'm rather enjoying myself." Christine said, looking shocked.

She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was almost 9 o'clock. She hated to say anything, she really did enjoy spending time with Erik, but she really should get to sleep. Almost as if Lisa could read her mind she said that Erik should walk Christine back to her room.

They made their way slowly talking and laughing the whole time. She saw her door and her heart seemed to drop. Even though Erik said he would see her tomorrow she didn't want to part from him. Christine was in front of her door now and before she could say goodnight Erik's mouth was pressed to hers. She felt her heart flutter and thump loudly. Christine melted against him. They were locked in that embrace for what seemed forever.

Finally they seemed to part. She looked into his eyes and blushed. She cleared her throat and bid him goodnight. Only after she had showered and was in bed did her breath catch back up to her. How could he take her breath away like that? Did this mean they were back together?

Tomorrow she would find out for sure. _Hopefully I can put Phoebe out of his mind for good_. _Of course if they wanted to stay friends that would be okay, I just need to make sure Phoebe knows we're together so she won't try to take him from me again._

**So I hope you like the chapter through Christine's eyes! Please let me know if you like it through Erik's eyes, or Christines. I may even do one through Phoebe's eye's when she gets back to school. As always when you leave me a review check out my profile and get the answer, unless you don't want me to, and please say so in the review, and I will do it another way!**

**Desiree'**


	14. Understanding

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Phantom of the Opera characters, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends. A huge thanks to my Beta reader, who puts up with me!**

Chapter 14: Understanding

Erik woke in his room and was shocked to see the dim sunlight coming in through the window. It was January 5th. All the kids would be coming back to school. Finally he would be able to talk to Phoebe. He really did miss her, and it was because of Phoebe that Erik was with Christine.

He got ready for the day and walked out into the kitchen and saw Lisa bright and bubbly. "Morning Erik, would you like some breakfast? I'm making waffles." Erik looked at her, eyes narrowed.

"No thank you. How can you be so enthusiastic this early?" Erik asked in disgust. Lisa just looked at him and smiled. "So are you going to stay with us during the rest of the year, or are you going to go back to your dorm room?"

Erik thought over this, and wasn't sure. He still hadn't seen McWillen and didn't know if he could handle being around him. What did Erik care if people talked about him? They did anyway - because of his mask.

Erik shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "I have some things I have to get done, I'll let you know later." He walked out of the little house and into the crowded hallways. He stepped over bags and suitcases, finally making his way to Christine's room. He knocked on the door and she threw it open with a smile on her face. Her hair was pulled back into a plait.

She ran into his chest and gave him a huge hug. "Oh Erik, isn't this exciting, everyone is coming back to school. I can't wait for lessons to start again." Erik looked down at his beloved Christine and smiled. "Now you're going to have to work very hard to earn the top spot in your music class Christine, I'll help you." He just felt her nod her head.

Erik heard someone clear their throat and looked around to see who it was and was not happy. Raoul was looking at Christine with shock in his eyes. Christine pulled her head out of Erik's chest and looked at Raoul and smiled. "Oh Raoul, how was your Holiday? Did you enjoy spending time with your family?"

Raould looked at Erik with a hard glint in his eyes and Erik stared back not wanting to break the gaze. Christine pulled away from Erik "would you mind if I hung out with Raoul a bit and talk to him about my Holidays?"

Erik wasn't pleased, but decided to keep the peace to make Christine happy. He nodded his head and started to walk away when he felt Christine place her hand on his arm.

He turned back to her and she placed a soft kiss on his lips. He smiled and turned and walked away. He slowly made his way to his dorm room and opened the door. It was the same as he left it. Tyler had not come back yet. He looked around the room and decided that he would stay with Lisa and James.

Slowly he started packing his things in his bag and left it by the door. He was going to open the door when he saw the box of pictures and trinkets left to him from his former foster parents. He picked up the box and put it in his bag. Before he could straighten up he heard a knock at his door.

Opening it he saw the green eyes and red hair of Phoebe. He felt a smile come to his face against his will and saw her smile back shyly. "Hi Erik, how was your break?"

He was about to answer when she took the two steps parting them and wrapped her arms around his middle. He stiffened at the hug and stepped back.

"Erik, I'm really sorry about what happened. Can you ever forgive me? I had a horrible Holiday break thinking about you and the look on your face when you walked in. I came here looking for you and Tyler was here and we started talking again. I didn't know what happened." Phoebe said in a rush.

He looked down at her shook his head. He was still upset with her, but couldn't be mad at her forever. "Its okay Phoebe, I don't understand but I will forgive you. I want you to understand though, I will always remember that."

Phoebe bowed her head and he saw a tear slip down her face. "Its okay, we're still friends. I want you to know that we are only friends, I'm with Christine, and that's who I want to be with. Don't try to come between us because I have no problem leaving you behind and forgetting about you." Erik said with a little menace behind his voice.

Phoebe's face looked hurt and Erik regretted saying what he said so harshly. She nodded her head and took a deep breath. "I guess I deserve that."

Erik nodded his head. "Are you hungry? I believe they are serving lunch. Christine will probably be looking for me, and you are more than welcome to join us."

They made their way to the dining room and saw Christine sitting at a table and Erik was not happy to see Raoul had joined her. They both got plates and sat down. Erik was rather moody and silent.

After the meal Raoul stood and left, leaving Erik, Christine, and Phoebe. Christine seemed to have taken a liking to Phoebe, which surprised Erik. "Phoebe, Erik and I are planning on practicing music, you are more than welcome to join us." Christine said as she stood up ready to leave.

Phoebe smiled politely but declined saying she needed to unpack. Erik and Christine were found two hours later in the choir practicing chords. "Erik I need a break, you should really go and unpack your own stuff as well, I'm sure Lisa and James are about to have dinner. I'll see you tomorrow okay."

Erik huffed at Christine's words. He did need to talk to Lisa and James though. He watched her walk out of the choir room and stopping by his dorm room and grabbing his bag. He saw Tyler's bag on the bed, but didn't see him.

He made his way to the little house and opened the door. He felt better about just walking in now. Lisa and James really did make him feel at home and welcome. Lisa came into the front room and saw Erik with his bag and smiled."

"Oh, I'm so glad you decided to stay here. I have some good news for you. We got the papers back and all we have to do is sign the papers, and you will be officially adopted."

Erik looked back at her with shock on his face. She seemed genuinely happy about this. Why did she accept him so quickly? Did he want them to adopt him knowing he was damaged? They deserved to know the truth about him.

"Lisa, before you sign them, we need to talk. It's not something I generally talk about willingly, but you need to know all the information before you do something you may regret later."

Lisa looked down at him and saw hurt in her eyes. "Is it about why you wear the mask Erik?"

Erik looked down at his shoes and nodded. He could feel his long hair blocking his face from view so he reached up and took his mask off. He could feel the cold air on his face and sighed. He closed his eyes and looked up and heard nothing. Had she perhaps fainted at the sight of him, no he would have heard her hit the floor. Maybe she was in a silent scream. He had become very close to Lisa and it would hurt him deeply to see the look of horror on her face.

Slowly he opened his eyes and saw tears down her face. She walked closer to Erik and he recoiled like she had hit him. "Erik, you are perfect in your own beautiful way." Erik was shocked to her these kind words slip from her mouth.

"Would you want this face to cover your Christmas cards to family? Would your family accept me as who I am?"

"Erik, you are our child now, and both James and I truly love you and we will always take care of you. Welcome home."

He looked up into her hazel green eyes and felt his own traitor tears slip down his face and took her words to heart. He reached up and placed the mask back on his face.

Lisa opened her arms and Erik gladly walked to her to return the hug. He was home.

**So I hope you like it! I have to say I'm not getting any reviews compared to the hits I'm receiving, and I really would like at least three reviews untill I post the next chapter. I already have it written, so the more reviews the faster I will post it. Thanks! Oh, and if you like Twilight you should check out my new story New Moon, New Love. I'll be posting it soon.**

**Desiree'**


	15. Paris

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera, but I do own my own characters thanks to my neo friends.**

Chapter 15: Paris

Erik woke in a good mood; he finally belonged to a family, no more bouncing around. Lisa and Erik had talked for a while last night. He had told her that he had been born like this, and his parents couldn't stand to look at his face, giving him up for adoption.

Erik had tried to find his birth parents, but adoption records were hard to break through, and he still hadn't found them. He would one day though, that was the first thing Erik had decided to do when he was younger.

He rolled over and looked out the window to see the sun rising against the woods. He got up and dressed walking into the kitchen to find Lisa there cooking as usual. He sat and ate with her and she had some surprising news.

"Erik, I wanted to tell you something, every year James and I go to Paris during summer break, we save all year for it, we are gone about two weeks, and we are very excited to be a family this year. We will need to get you a passport, and school ends in May and we usually go in June."

Erik smiled to himself. Getting out of the country is something Erik had always wanted to do. Travel and discover new things are exciting.

"Yeah, okay." Erik said his smile slipping off his face, but was pleased all the same.

Erik finished breakfast and headed out the door to go to class. Phoebe was sitting behind the piano and Erik walked over to her and told her the exciting news about him going to Paris, with his new parents.

"Oh, Erik I'm so happy for you." Phoebe said as she threw her arms around Erik. "You are finally in a family."

The teacher came in and started class, so Erik didn't have much time to talk to Phoebe. Next was art class and Erik and Phoebe chatted the whole time. Art was a class where you could talk through the whole thing and still get everything done.

Halfway through the class Erik was caught off his guard.

"Erik, I wanted to talk to you actually, Christine and I hung out last night."

Erik looked shocked, but waited for her to continue.

"It was really nice, we got to know each other. I ran into her last night after the two of you got done practicing, we just kind of buried the hatched I guess you could say. She actually suggested that we meet again tonight and you are more than welcome to join us."

Erik was stunned at what had just come out of her mouth. Phoebe had the audacity to ask Erik if HE wanted to join THEM.

Erik didn't want to get in a fight with her though so he just nodded his head and went back to his project. She kept jabbering on and Erik nodded in the right places, but he didn't really pay attention to her.

It was strange that Christine and Phoebe were friends, and Erik didn't know if he liked it. He dated both girls, and figured they should just automatically hate each other because Erik got the feeling that Phoebe still wanted something more than friendship.

Erik was off in his own world when he felt someone nudging him. He looked around and saw Phoebe pushing his arm. "What is it woman?" Erik asked rudely.

Phoebe gave him a kind of look that said 'excuse me!'

"Sorry, I was just off in my own world." Erik said.

She smiled and said "Its okay, anyways, I was just talking to Raoul and he is going to join us tonight. Christine said something about it to him this morning"

Erik was not pleased. Could he not get rid of this overly pompous rick kid? Before he could reply however the bell ran out signaling the end of class. Erik was up out of his seat and through the door before anyone else. Spending the evening with Christine and Phoebe was going to be hard enough and now he had to add Raoul into the mix.

Thankfully it was time for lunch where he could talk to Christine. He still hadn't told her the news about the adoption and Paris. He found her sitting at a table, so he quickly got a try of food and joined her. A smile came to her face when he sat down.

He told her about everything and she squealed in delight giving a peck on his cheek. When he told her about Paris she was almost bouncing up and down on her seat. "Your so lucky Erik, I have always wanted to travel to Paris with daddy, but I never got to."

"I wish you could come with me, I think I would enjoy it more if you were there with me." Erik said truthfully.

They had spent the rest of the time talking about things about Paris that they would like to see. They both agreed that they wanted to see an opera at the Opera Populare' any opera would be good as long as it was there.

Erik walked Christine to her drama class and he rushed off to his architecture class. He was really excelling in that class. Maybe he would end up as an architect. Ideas of different buildings and designs came to Erik just as easily as new music did.

His teacher had come up to him and wanted to give some of his blueprint ideas to some contractors. Erik's face showed no sigh of happiness, though he was ecstatic. He was only 13 and he was designing buildings that people are going to use.

"Where is the building going to be built at?" Erik asked him.

"Los Angels. Down town I think"

Erik was almost floating with joy when he went home. He told Lisa about the blueprints he drew up that were being used. She made a wonderful dinner where Lisa told James all about Erik's good news.

"Well I have sent in the papers, Erik you are officially our son now." James had said before they finished diner.

Erik smiled at them and finished eating his meal when a though came to him. What was he supposed to call them now? Lisa and James, or mom and dad, or did they even want him to call them mom and dad? Erik liked James, but felt more comfortable with Lisa. He would just talk to her about it later.

"I told Christine and Phoebe that I would hang out with them after dinner, can I go?" Erik asked before he stood up. He always had polite manners especially at the table.

James looked at Lisa, then back to Erik. "Yes that's fine, just be in before lights out at the school.

Erik stood up and put his plate in the sink. He walked into the common room and saw Phoebe sitting there already. Christine or Raoul hadn't come yet. Raoul arrived shortly after Erik. Erik sat himself next to Phoebe and feeling protective about her. They started talking about their art projects when Christine showed up. She had a bunch of CD's in her hands. She opened the CD player on the table and popped one in.

It was an a cappella group called The Coats. Erik listened to them for a while and thought they had some real talent. Erik and Christine had sat and talked about music and Phoebe and Raoul were sitting close to them talking about who knows what. He glanced at them and they were rather close. A small growl was threatening to leave his throat.

Christine sensed danger and asked Erik to walk her to her room. He stood up and extended his arm out to her which she placed her arm through. He picked up the CD's so Christine wouldn't have to do it. He was halfway out of the common area when he forgot the CD in the CD player.

"Oh Christine, I forgot the CD in the player, I'll be right back." Erik walked back to the player and picked it up putting it in its case. He was going to say goodnight when he saw her entwined with Raoul.

**I would also like to say I don't own The Coats, but I have seen them before, yes they are a real band, and they are wonderful. I just want to say thank you to the people who do review to my story, it really helps. I want to give a special thank you to Cinnamon, and Keyklee for giving me great reviews. I really apreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter, so please review, it really adds fule to my story!**

**Desiree'**


	16. Close Encounters

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera, but I do own my other characters, thanks to my neo friends!**

Chapter 16: Close Encounters

Wild thoughts went through Erik's head. What was Phoebe doing! First that surfer wannabe McWillen, now the fop Dechangy. Erik started to see red he was so angry. He must have been standing there for a while because he felt Christine walk up to him.

"What's taking so long Erik?" Christine said with a smile looking at him. She looked at his stunned face and turned to see what he was looking at. Erik saw her jaw drop at the sight then start to giggle suddenly.

Erik was outraged. "What is so damn funny? I find no humor in this situation"

Christine tried to stifle her giggling at Erik's anger. She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the common area so they wouldn't disrupt Phoebe and Raoul.

"Well Phoebe and I were talking earlier, and she said something about liking Raoul. I tried to set them up, that's why I set this group meeting tonight. They look so cute together."

"You wanted this to happen!" Erik shouted. Christine placed her hand over his mouth to keep him from shouting again.

"Oh Erik calm down." Christine said placing her other hand on his arm rolling her eyes.

He took a couple of deep steadying breath's with his eyes closed, but opened them instantly because pictures of Phoebe and Raoul popped into his mind.

"Yes, I thought they would make a good couple. I didn't want Phoebe to think she still had free claims on you, and so I thought if I set her up with someone we could all hang out, and it wouldn't be uncomfortable for us, or more for you."

Erik looked at her with shock on his face. He knew Christine was beautiful and talented, but her thinking up something like this was surprising.

"Oh, well okay then." Erik said lamely.

"I just know your best friends with her, and having her be happy with someone is easier on me I just won't feel jealous all the time."

Erik smiled down at her. He noticed they were standing rather close to each other and he

stepped back quickly getting nervous.

Christine seemed to pout a little bit. "What's the matter Erik." Christine said stepping closer to him.

They had kissed before, but only quick pecks, and Erik was uncomfortable about this kind of topic.

Christine wrapped her arms around Erik's neck. She pressed her lips to Erik's and his mind seemed to turn to mush. He couldn't think properly.

She opened her mouth to him and he felt weak in the knees. This was the first time he wished he wasn't wearing his mask around Christine. It would have been so much easier to kiss her without it. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He plunged his hand into her hair and could feel the curls wind around his fingers.

They stayed like this for several minutes before they broke apart panting for air. He felt her come off her tip toes and she pressed her cheek against his chest.

He realized his hand was still entwined in her hair and he tried to get it out. When he finally did he wrapped his arm around her holding her close.

"Well, I think I should go to bed. Will you walk me to my door?"

Erik smirked at her. "It would bring me no grater joy than to do this one thing for you."

It was when he was walking back to his home when he ran into Phoebe. She was standing against the wall, as if waiting for someone.

"Erik, I wanted to talk to you." Phoebe said as she saw him.

When he got closer he saw Phoebe look at him and smile. "So what have you been up to?" Phoebe said looking him up and down. Her smile turned into a smirk.

"Nothing." Erik said quickly.

"Oh really, then why is your hair all messed up, and your lips are swollen?"

Erik went slightly pink.

"Oh well Christine and I…" Erik didn't finish his sentence.

"It's okay Erik," Phoebe said before she could finish. "Listen I wanted to talk to you about something. Raoul and I have gotten to know each other a little tonight and he asked me out. I'm not asking for you permission, but I just wanted to let you know so you wouldn't freak out and hit him too." Phoebe said with a little smile on her face. "I don't know why, but I like letting you in the light on what's going one with me, unlike you." Phoebe said with a smile and glanced up at his messy hair.

Erik's hand shot up to his hair and tried to slick it back once more, but failed.

"I want us to get back to the place where we can talk again and joke around with each other. We haven't been like that since you started dating Christine. I miss that." Phoebe said quietly.

"Okay, I miss that too." Erik said. "I like talking to Christine, but I can't joke around with her like I did you."

"Well let me ask you a question then."

"Shoot."

"Did you really break McWillen's nose?"

Erik just smiled. "It's time for bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He made his way back home before lights out. James was sitting in the front room when he walked in. James took one look at Erik and grinned. Erik hastily reached up and tried to smooth out his hair going red in the face once again.

"Goodnight James." Erik said hastily.

"Night son. You don't have to call me James you know."

Erik turned back to him and smiled. "Thanks…dad."

**Okay so didn't you just go awww. I did when I wrote it! I hope you really like the chapter. I know it has been a little while since I posted, and I'm sorry. I'm getting back to school and that and taking care of my husband and daughter can be a little hectic, please forgive me. I have been getting tons of reviews lately and I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I love getting reviews, especially to see what my wonderful readers are expecting next. Thank you to all my wonderful readers.**

**Desiree'**


	17. Change of Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends.**

Chapter Seventeen: Change of heart

Phoebe's POV

Phoebe walked back to her room with a smile on her face. She was still a little hurt that Erik had chosen Christine over her, but at least they were friends and could still hang out with each other, and now she had Raoul.

When Phoebe first met Raoul she hadn't really given him a second though. He was a nice guy, but she still had eyes for Erik.

She got to her room and fell directly into bed. When she woke she could see the bright sunlight coming in through her room. She started to get ready for the day and in the middle of brushing her teeth there was a small knock on her door.

Alexis called her name and told her Raoul was here to walk her to class. She quickly finished and almost skipped out of the door to meet Raoul.

"You look beautiful" Raoul said to her giving her a small kiss on her cheek. Phoebe blushed.

"Are you hungry, I thought we could have breakfast before class starts."

"Yes I am very hungry." Phoebe said placing her hand in his.

They had small talk walking to the cafeteria and noticed Erik and Christine sitting at a table laughing at something Christine had said.

"Let's not sit there, lets find another table." Raoul said looking around for another table.

"Oh don't be silly Raoul, they are our friends." Phoebe said leading him to the table.

About two steps into their walk Raoul came to a stop. "No I don't want to sit there, I don't think Erik likes me very much."

Phoebe had thought back on different conversations with Erik. She knew he was right, but she wasn't sure why.

"Well you will just have to show him your loveable side and he will love you, like I do. Well maybe not exactly like I do." Phoebe said with a small laugh.

Raoul sighed in defeat and followed Phoebe to the table.

"Moring Christine and Erik." Phoebe said cheerfully.

Christine winked at her and looked down at her hand still clasped in Raoul's. She glanced a look at Erik and saw he was indeed frowning.

Well that was just to bad, he would have to like Raoul if he wanted to spend any time with her.

"So what are you guys doing this weekend?" Christine asked Raoul and Phoebe. She glanced at Raoul and smiled. "I don't know, we haven't really decided to do anything yet." Phoebe said looking over at Raoul and smiling.

"Why don't you join Erik and I. We were going to go to the public library in town."

Erik made a noise in this throat that sounded like a growl. "No they certainly will not." Erik said loudly.

"That was rather rude Erik" Phoebe said. There was an uncomfortable silence after this. The bell rang.

"Shall we get going Phoebe?" Raoul said quietly standing up.

Phoebe followed him and he took her to class where he placed a small kiss on her lips.

She hurried into the classroom and waited for Erik to explain himself.

After a couple minutes Erik showed up. She was standing by the door with her arms crossed. "What was that about at breakfast?" Phoebe said as she stepped out in front of him.

"Nothing that needs to concern you." Erik said

"Why don't you like Raoul Erik, he has been nothing but nice to you, and you treat him like scum. I thought things were going to get better between us, now that we are both happy."

"You don't know what your precious Raoul is really like. I overheard him telling Christine that I was a monster, and that she should be with someone like me." Erik said harshly.

Phoebe was surprised. "What! When did you hear that, you're not a monster Erik." Phoebe said placing her hand on his arm. "I think he was just jealous that you two were going out. He used to like her when he first came here."

"Yeah, how do you know he stopped?"

"Erik don't say that! We both like each other, and he doesn't like Christine anymore. You just need to give him a second chance that's all."

Erik made a huffing noise, but Phoebe took that as a yes. "Now shall we start warming up before we get in trouble?"

Erik smiled at her. The rest of class went smoothly and they found out that the next piece of music called for a piano and violin duet.

When class had ended Erik rushed off to walk Christine to her next class, but shortly joined Phoebe and Raoul at their art class.

Phoebe rushed to Erik and whispered "just be nice okay? Try to get along with him."

Erik gave a curt nod and Phoebe walked over to her table next to Raoul.

"Raoul your project is moving along nicely." Phoebe said looking at the sculpture.

He flashed her a dazzling smile.

Erik cleared her throat and both Phoebe and Raoul looked around at him. He had opened his mouth to say something, but closed it quickly. "Sorry had a tickle in my throat."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, but had to give him credit for at least trying.

As eh class had drawn to a close Phoebe had rushed off to clean her paint brushes and turned and saw Erik conversing with Raoul. Things looked friendly so she thought she would let things work themselves out.

After a while she joined them. They were briefly talking about some project Erik was working on.

"Are you boys playing nice?" Phoebe said with a smile as she reached them.

"Sorry I have to walk Christine to class" Erik said standing up right before the bell sounded.

Phoebe turned to Raoul. "So tell me, what was that about?"

"Oh we just decided to make amends." Raoul said quickly, "he invited us to lunch."

Phoebe turned and smiled. She seemed to have everything she wanted at the moment. Her best friend talking to her again, a wonderful boyfriend and they all seemed to get along now. Things were perfect.

**When I first wrotre this chapter I made Phoebe different. If you want to know how I wrote it, please ask, I would be more that willing to let you know. So did you like Phoebe's POV? I hope so! Please review and let me know what you thought about the chapter. Also please check out my other story 'Love Through the Generations'**

**Desiree'**


	18. Learning the Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends!**

Chapter Eighteen: Learning the Truth

Erik slammed his plate down at the table Christine was sitting at. She jumped at the sudden noise. Her hand jumped to her heart.

"Erik you nearly gave me a heart attack. What's wrong?"

Erik was fuming, but started calming down at Christine's frightened face.

"Christine, I'm sorry, I'm okay." Erik said lamely.

Truth was he was not okay. Erik had taken Phoebe's advice and tried to talk to Raoul, but had found out that he was even more a pompous fop than he though.

X-----X

"Raoul, Phoebe had asked me to talk to you, and for her sake, I think we should put all of our _disagreements _behind us." Erik said quietly as he watched Phoebe go and clean her brushes out.

"Well, I was never sure about why you didn't like me." Raoul said gazing at him.

Erik narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Do not think that I don't know what you have spoken to Christine about me." He said coolly.

He could see a bead of sweat appear at the base of Raoul's hairline. "I don't know what you are talking about Erik." Raoul said, but his voice quivered.

Erik smiled dangerously at Raoul. "I know that you think of me as a monster, and that Christine deserves better than me, you perhaps?"

Raoul had started to speak, but Erik cut him off. "Look Phoebe is my best friend and you don't deserve a girl like her, but we need to at least act civil to each other. Make her believe we get along now, but you need to say away from me and especially Christine."

"Erik, you don't need to worry Phoebe, I will make sure she is well taken care of, Christine as well. She belongs to someone better than you."

Erik had a growl in his throat but saw that Phoebe was starting to walk towards them. "Your project is coming along nicely." Erik said pleasantly. He saw Raoul look confused but saw Phoebe starting to come over and caught on to what Erik was doing.

X-----X

"So Christine how are you coming on your choir solo?"

"With your help I'm doing wonderful." Christine said with a smile on her face. "Will you be able to help me tonight? I still don't have that one note right!"

"You will don't worry."

After all the classes were finished Erik and Christine were back in the music room. Erik was on the piano and Christine was standing beside him singing along with his music.

"You are progressing well Christine" Erik said solemnly.

She placed a hand on the left side of his face and made him turn his head towards her. A slow smile spread across his face at her touch.

"What's bothering you Erik, you have seemed blue all day."

"I had a very interesting conversation today with Raoul today." He said Raoul with a snarl.

"Oh Erik, not about Raoul again. He is really a lovely person, you just need to get to know him."

"Yes, lovely. He said that you deserve better than me, like him. He is planning on staying with Phoebe to get closer to you, because he knows you will let your guard down if he is dating someone, and he plans on stealing you away from me!" Erik said loudly.

He looked at Christine and saw that anger wash over her face. "Erik, you are so insecure! Raoul would never do anything of the sort, I have made it perfectly clear that I don't like him that way. I wish you would stop putting me through this sort of thing." Christine said heatedly.

Erik was shocked that Christine wouldn't believe him. "Fine." Erik said coolly getting up from the piano bench.

He strolled over to the door and walked through it quickly not looking back at Christine. Erik was fuming. How could she not believe him? Has he ever lied to her?

He saw Phoebe sitting on the couch with Raoul holding hands and talking avidly. "Phoebe can I talk to you?" Erik said loudly making her jump.

She looked over at Raoul, who shrugged. Phoebe stood up and walked next to Erik who started walking towards the other end of the room.

"Raoul is using you." Erik said bluntly.

She looked at him questionably her eyebrows raised. "What do you mean?"

"He is just trying to get to Christine through you, he knows you are friends, and she would let her guard down if you are dating Raoul."

Erik expected her to rant and rave like Christine had, instead she looked concerned. "How in the world do you know this?"

"He told me in art today."

"You looked like you were getting along though!" Phoebe said rather loudly.

"Shh, he will hear you," Erik said trying to keep her quiet. "I just wanted you to think we were, you know for you." He said lamely.

She reached out and grasped his upper arm. "I'm touched that you would do that for me Erik." Phoebe said softly. "Have you told Christine this yet?"

"Yes, and she didn't believe me!" Erik yelled. It was Phoebe's time to shush him.

"She told me that I was making it up, and judging that…well you know who I'm talking about."

"Well maybe I should break it off with Raoul." Phoebe said sadly. "I really did like him."

"I'm really sorry Phoebe; I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"Phoebe snorted. "Yeah, well it's too late for that." She said sarcastically. "I guess I'm going to go talk to Raoul then. What are you going to do?"

"I think I might just go home. I don't think I can face Christine at the moment."

"If you need me, you can find me in my room. Night Erik."

He watched her walk back to Raoul and had the urge to watch, but thought that would be indecent, so he turned and started to head off towards his room where Lisa and James asked if he was okay, where he just said he was tired and headed for his room.

Why did him and Christine always have to get into it? Would they ever get past the fighting and bickering?

**Poor Erik and Christine. I really hope you liked my chapter. Now remember, the more reviews I get, the quicker I will update because they make me feel as if you want another chapter faster. So get reveiwing, especially you Mantha, you know who you are :P.**

**Desiree'**


	19. Family Troubles

**Dislcaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine thanks to my neo friends.**

Chapter Nineteen: Family troubles

"Erik, come on, just talk to her!" Phoebe said to him after days of Erik moping.

"Why doesn't she just talk to me then?" Erik said getting angry.

Phoebe just huffed. "You know you miss her."

It was true; Erik did miss talking to Christine. She always seemed to make him feel happier when she was around. "She is the one who started it, so she should be the one to apologize."

Erik looked at Phoebe "So I'm sick of talking about me, what did Raoul say when you talked to him?"

"Well of course he denied it." Phoebe said quickly. "He went off on you trying to undermine him, and our relationship." Phoebe said using her fingers as quotations around relationship.

"Has he tried to talk to you since?"

"As a matter of fact he did, and I told him if he didn't get out of my face that I would punch him in the face."

"You most certainly will not!" Erik said loudly.

"Hark who's talking" Phoebe said with a smile. "Seen Tyler any time soon?"

Erik gave a small grin. "I just meant that you wouldn't have to punch him, I would do it for you. You can't break a knuckle with our duet coming up soon."

Phoebe just rolled her eyes, but grinned all the same. "Anyways, back to you. Christine doesn't look to happy either."

Erik growled at her. "I don't want to talk about it anymore Phoebe! Just drop it okay."

Phoebe held up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay."

Erik was looking down at the table working on a project for his architecture class when heard a small gasp. He looked up to see Phoebe had stood up from their lunch table and was trying to see what was going on.

"What is it Phoebe?" Erik said in confusion.

"Erik it's your dad, he just fell to the ground!"

Erik stood up and could see a bunch of people around him acting panicky. Erik stood up and started pushing people out of his way to get to him.

James was laying on the ground when Erik got to him. Erik could hear shouts of 'give him some air' and 'call an ambulance.'

He knelt down next to him "Ja…Dad" Erik said in shock. He heard a grasp behind him as Phoebe had been behind Erik.

"What's wrong with him Erik?" Phoebe asked quickly.

James was on the floor shaking in pain. "I think he is having a heart attack!" Erik shouted at her.

Finally some adult teachers got there and started pushing people away telling them to get to class.

"Wait he's my dad!" Erik shouted at some teacher he didn't know.

"I'm sorry son, you have to get out of here, the paramedics are on their way." He said as he pushed Erik and Phoebe out of the lunch room.

Erik was in a rage. How dare that man keep him away in a time like this. Erik took off down the hallways intended to find Lisa. He could here Phoebe running right behind him when he finally skidded to a halt in front of his door and rushed in. He could hear Lisa rummaging in her room and Erik burst in there.

She screamed when Erik ran in there. "Erik you gave me a start." Lisa said with her hand over her chest. She was in the middle of throwing things willy nilly into a bag.

"I've just heard, I'm going to follow the ambulance to the hospital. I'm sure he is fine." Lisa said zipping up her bag. She rushed over to where Erik stood pale next to Phoebe who was trying to catch her breath.

She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'll come home tonight and let you know what's going on." And rushed out of the house.

Erik turned wordlessly to Phoebe who seemed to wear the exact same expression as his own.

It was a few minutes until the feeling seemed to come back to Erik. He slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

"Erik…I…" Phoebe said quietly.

She sat next to him on the floor at a loss for words.

"Your mom's right, James is going to be okay."

All Erik could do was nod his head. Phoebe reached over and wound her arm around Erik's neck. He turned into her body and embraced her in a hug shaking.

After what seemed like hours Erik finally stood up and helped Phoebe up as well. "I think we missed our afternoon classes." He said lamely.

"It's okay. Are you hungry? I think they should be serving dinner by now."

Erik looked at the clock on the wall. Lisa had said she would come home and tell him how James was doing.

"No, I mean yes I'm hungry, but I can't leave, I need to wait for Mom."

"Okay well I'll bring you something back. I don't want you to be alone right now." Phoebe said as she walked out of the house.

Erik was grateful to Phoebe, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to be alone at the moment.

He walked over and slumped down in a chair and after only ten minutes time Phoebe returned with two white boxes take out boxes in her hands.

They ate silently at the dining room table. Before they could finish Lisa walked into the room. Her eyes were red and puffy.

Erik jumped up and ran to her and she pulled him into a tight hug. "What happened, is he okay?"

Lisa didn't say anything, just held him in a tight hug. Erik pulled back at her and saw that she started to cry again.

"Erik honey, James passed away. They were doing surgery on him and his heart stopped, they couldn't get it to start again."

Erik felt as if the floor was falling out from under him. He could feel the tears start to pool in his eyes and he pressed himself back into Lisa's arms.

**So what did you think of the chapter? I know it was on the sad side, and I almost didn't write it like that, but then I decided to after all. Please review and let me know what you thought, or if you have any ideas. I want to say thank you to everyone who has added my story to the alerts or favorites, I really appreciate it!**

**Desiree'**


	20. Last Kiss

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera, but the other characters are mine, thanks to my neo friends.**

Chapter 20: Final Kiss

Erik heard the knock at his door but ignored it.

"Erik, Christine is here to talk to you." Lisa said softly. It sounded as though she had been crying.

He debated on just laying in bed, but he knew Lisa would come and get him sooner or later, so giving a huge sigh he rolled off his bed. He slowly walked into the front room and saw Christine standing there.

"Hi Erik." Christine said softly. She seemed to be ringing her hands and looked very uncomfortable.

Erik didn't know what to say to her. He looked into her brown eyes and if he wasn't so miserable, he might have found something. Did she still consider them going out? Erik didn't think so, they hadn't spoken in days.

Phoebe had been coming over since James' passing, not in a relationship anyways, even if she did want to Erik felt dead inside.

He had finally became part of a real family when part of that family was ripped from them. Why was life so damn unfair and complicating?

"I just wanted to come by and say I have been thinking of you a lot lately." Christine said tearing Erik away from his brooding.

"Is the funeral today?"

Erik just nodded his head, he couldn't express his words of grief to her. If he opened his mouth he was afraid that it would all come pouring out, and was that what he really wanted?

_No, if I was going to express what I was feeling it would be with Phoebe, she had after all been there when it happened._

"Well, I should really get to class, I just wanted to come by and let you know."

"Thanks"

He saw her tear up as she turned and left.

_Why was she getting all teary? Wasn't it me who is suffering right now? She didn't need to get so prissy when I'm in misery_ Erik thought savagely.

Lisa stepped into the front room. "Erik you need to go get dressed, we need to get going."

He turned on his heel and walked into the room and put the suit on that he wore to his foster parent's funeral.

Two funerals in less than a year, that had to be a record.

Lisa had been very brave up to this point. She had not cried around Erik except for the day he died, always doing it in the private of her bedroom when she thought Erik was asleep.

He feared that she would not be this brave today though. Watching them place her husband into the ground was going to have to be one of the worse feelings she could ever imagine.

Erik stepped out of his room and saw Phoebe standing in almost the exact same spot Christine had been standing.

As soon as she saw him she walked to him and put her arms around him. He leaned into the warm embrace and sighed. For some reason he felt like nothing could harm him while having her arms around him like a shield.

"I wish I could come with you Erik. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Will you be here when I get back?"

"If you want me to." Phoebe said quietly.

Erik nodded his head. She took his arms away from him and he felt the cold return to him.

He started walking to the front of the house to get in the car when Phoebe grabbed his arm pulling him back. She pressed her lips to his and pulled away quickly. She turned around and walked out of the door without looking back.

Erik stood rooted to the spot his eyes open wide in amazement.

Lisa approached him from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder leading him out of the house and into the little car.

The drive wasn't long, but the funeral was, at least it seemed so to Erik. He watched as person after person got up and spoke about James. He was right about Lisa, she started crying as soon as everyone was seated, of course so did Erik.

Lisa and James and been standing up in the front of the church when they closed the casket over James. Erik felt one more tear slip down his face and he knew that was the last tear he would shed today.

They followed the hearse to the grave yard and watched as a few more people spoke. Lisa and Erik made their way back to their car, but didn't leave yet.

After a ten minute silence Lisa seemed to be composed of herself and started to drive back to their little home.

"Erik, I am so very proud of you." Lisa said softly.

Erik didn't know what to say so just nodded his head.

"I love you Erik, you know that right."

"Of course, I love you too mom."

She smiled at him and continued down the road.

Erik saw it before Lisa did, a car had pulled out of a driveway and into Lisa's way. He smelled rubber as she slammed on her brakes, but no luck, they had hit the car.

He felt glass shatter all around him and was felt as the seatbelt he had been wearing tighten against his chest. He looked over at Lisa and saw her head collide with the air bag that had come out of the steering wheel.

Then just as fast as it started it was over. He felt immense pain around his belly and looked down and saw a big red stain move rapidly over his body. A black something had struck Erik there and was sticking out of his body.

He raised a shaking hand and put his hands around it, wanting to pull it out, but not having the strength.

He looked over at Lisa and she wasn't moving.

"Lisa" Erik said and was shocked at the whimper his voice had come out as.

He heard an annoying loud noise, and realized it was the horn blaring. The other driver must be lying on the steering wheel.

When Erik had spoken her name Lisa moved her head slightly so she could see Erik.

"Are you okay?" She sounded horribly weak as well.

Erik could tell her eyes were out of focus, she seemed to be trying to see something down a long tube.

Erik reached out a shaky hand towards her, when she saw what he was doing she reached out her hand as well.

"I'm so sorry." Lisa said and as she did a small bubble of blood seemed to pop in her mouth.

Erik felt her cold hand on his and tried to take a breath, but his lungs seemed to have become a smaller size.

"Don't leave me mom." Erik said as his eyes slipped shut. He felt his breath become ragged and could hear someone screaming, but it sounded a mile away.

He took one last shuttering breath as he succumbed to the blackness that was surrounding him. He felt Lisa's hands close on his as he slipped away into nothingness.

**Okay, so I didn't plan on ending it like this, but the idea came to me last night, and I thought it fit the story. I hope you have liked my story and please feel free to read my other stories. As always please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of the story, I want to give a huge thank you to my wonderful readers, you are my inspiration!**

**Desiree'**


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